The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

                                                  

Something about this franchise is just so innocent and earnest that it’s essentially impossible to hate. This could have made it difficult to review, but luckily The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an excellent film in any case.

It of course has some of the most lovable characters in the Disney Animated Canon, in addition to some lovely animation, especially considering the declining quality in the other films of this era.

The stories are of course as charming as the characters and the episodic plot structure works remarkably well here, due to A.A Milne’s classic books having the same narrative. Additionally, an issue with the narratives a lot of films going down the same route is a lack of character development and overall cohesiveness. But here- well…it’s Winnie the Pooh, so the appeal is in the characters and individual stories rather than anything else.

The music is of course great too- all of the songs have a really fun atmosphere which matches the tone of the film overall.

Like I said before, it would have been impossible to hate this film anyway, but the animation and music also help to make it great.  

Rating

Good guys: Some of the most likable characters in the canon give this movie a 9/10 on this one

Bad guys: N/A- (but just to even out the score, any film with N/A will automatically get 6/10)

Animation: The animation is as charming as the film itself, so it gets 7/10

Music: As fun as the rest of the Sherman brother’s work, the music gets 8/10

Plot: Sweet and heart-warming, the story gets 8/10

Overall Rating: 38/50 

Next review: The Rescuers 

Robin Hood

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

                                                                                              

                                                   

This movie has all the fun of the original Robin Hood legend, with some decent music and great characters, all of which make it one of the better films of this era.

These characters are also brought to life brilliantly by some fantastic voice acting, including Brian Bedford, who makes for a charming Robin Hood and Phil Harris as Little John. Even though Little John is basically just a brown version of Baloo from the Jungle Book, the voice work of Phil Harris once again provides a warmth that makes Harris’ performances in both films (he also voiced Baloo) extremely likable.

Prince John is one of the funniest villains in the canon, even if he isn’t the most menacing- something about his childishness is just so funny, especially when compared to Disney’s previous villains.

A lot of the music is also really fun, with the best song by far being The Phony King of England. I personally find some of the other songs a bit dull, the biggest example being Robin Hood and Maid Marian’s love song, but the rest of the soundtrack is very enjoyable.

As for the animation… objectively it’s really not great. It’s just a rough as the other films of this era and it re-uses a lot of animation, which can be distracting if you recognise it. However, the film was made on a shoestring budget, so it’s really not fair of me to judge it too harshly for this.

Overall, this is a fun and entertaining movie, with some great characters and good music.

Rating

Good guys: The cast are all fun and likable, even if many are pretty derivative of previous Disney characters, meaning that the good guys get 7/10

Bad guys: Prince John is also a lot of fun, so the bad guys get 7/10

Animation: The animation is pretty good considering the budget that was put into it, so the animation gets a 6/10 

Music: Most of the songs in this film are fairly enjoyable, so the music gets 6/10

Plot: This really captures all the fun of Robin Hood’s adventures, so the story gets 8/10

Overall Rating: 34/50  

Next review: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The Aristocats

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

                                                       

Much like Dumbo, this is another one that’s cute and fun, even if it’s not one of the better classics.

At its core, the story matches the simplicity of the film overall- a group of cats are set to inherit the fortune of their rich owner, so her butler (who is next in line) attempts to get rid of them. Luckily, they encounter an alley cat named Thomas O’Malley (who has a great introductory song by the way), who helps them get home. Others have pointed out that the plot is essentially 101 Dalmatians crossed with Lady and the Tramp and yeah, overall it is pretty derivative of the animal films which came before it.

This isn’t helped by the fact that the plot is stuffed with filler scenes. The good news is that for the most part it is good filler- all of the sequences that make up the movie as a whole are fairly entertaining, even if they don’t contribute much overall.

Sometimes the scratchier style of animation Disney used at the time works here and at other points it really doesn’t. For example, sometimes a sketchier style matches the overall atmosphere of the film, adding a sense of fun much like The Jungle Book. At other times, it just looks ugly, so the animation is a mixed bag overall.  

The characters are also good - the kittens are cute and O’Malley is a very entertaining character. On the other hand, Edgar is a pretty forgettable villain. I know, my standards for Disney villains are always way too high, but I know Disney could and would do better.  

Really the only vaguely outstanding about this film is the music. Everybody Wants to Be a Cat is of course a classic and the other songs are a lot of fun too.

In general, The Aristocats is not one of Disney’s best classics, but it’s not completely awful either.

Rating

Good guys: Cute kittens and a Tramp-esque hero put the characters for this film at a 5/10

Bad guys: Edgar isn’t irritating by any means, but he’s not exactly Disney’s most memorable villain either, so the villain gets 4/10

Animation: As I said, sometimes the animation style works and at other times it really doesn’t, so overall the animation gets 6/10  

Music: There are a lot of fun tunes in this film, so the music gets 6/10

Plot: Whilst it is derivative and full of filler, it still manages to be entertaining, so overall the plot gets 5/10

Overall Rating: 26/50

Next review: Robin Hood 

The Jungle Book

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

                                                       

                                                     

The Jungle Book is obviously up there with Disney’s best films and I can see its charm, but it’s just not a personal favourite of mine. It’s great, but other than the music there is nothing in it that makes it particularly spectacular.

This was the point in Disney history where the films started to become, for want of a better phrase, rougher, as the film’s budgets began to shrink. The Jungle Book gets nowhere near to matching the beauty of Disney’s previous animation, but it does have a certain charm that goes with the film’s overall atmosphere. This is also complemented by the fantastic music, the best songs of course being The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You, both of which are irresistibly fun.

Shere Khan is… ok. I’m sorry to say that, but he’s not nearly as good as the villains Disney would go on to produce. The voice acting from George Sanders is really the only thing that puts Shere Khan just about up there with the best- I just don’t see anything else that makes him stand out compared to other Disney villains.

Speaking of great voice acting however, there are some fantastic performances from a range of actors, many of whom would go on to do many more voices for Disney in this era. This includes of course Phil Harris as Baloo, Sterling Holloway as Kaa, Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera and Louis Prima as King Louis.

In terms of the main characters, until the climax of the film Mowgli is whiny and irritating at his worst and passive enough to be a bit dull at best.

 …And that’s all there is to say on the Jungle Book really. It is certainly enjoyable enough to deserve its classic status, but there are better films which also went on to earn that title.

Rating

Good guys: Mowgli is not particularly interesting for a lot of the film, but Baloo and Bagheera are fun enough to put the good guys at a 6/10

Bad guys: Shere Khan and Kaa are both ok villains, whilst not being the best Disney have produced, so the bad guys get a 7/10

Animation: The rough, scratchy style of these films often fits their fun and charming atmosphere, but they lack the beauty of Disney’s previous work, so the animation gets a 6/10

Music: The Jungle Book’s music is probably its greatest asset- based on The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You alone, the music gets a 9/10 (because none of the other songs are particularly memorable to be honest).  

Plot: It’s ok, but nothing about this particular story stands out for me, so the story gets a 5/10

Overall Rating: 32/50

Next review: The Aristocats