2017 was filled with many major anniversaries for Walt Disney Animated Studios films: from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs celebrating 80 years this December to Aladdin capturing our hearts 25 years ago and Wreck-It Ralph reaching a smashing 5 year anniversary. There are 13 animated films that reached a significant anniversary this year from the Walt Disney Animated Studios film canon and I wanted to honour these milestones.
13) Wreck-it Ralph: 5th Anniversary
Wreck-it Ralph was released on November 2, 2012 as the Studio’s 52nd feature film after a premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on October 29. Directed by Rich Moore, this film had many working titles such as Reboot Ralph, Jump Joe, and High Score. An upcoming sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, is scheduled to be released in November of 2018. The high score for the video game Fix-It Felix Jr, 120501, is a hidden tribute to Walt Disney as these numbers make up his birthday, December 5, 1901. The music was written by Henry Jackman who then scored the music for Big Hero 6 two years later.
12) Meet the Robinsons: 10th Anniversary
Meet the Robinsons was based on the story A Day with Wilbur Robinson written by William Joyce. It was released on March 30, 2007 and features an amazing score by Danny Elfman. Lewis grows up at the 6th Street Orphanage with the hopes of inventing a Memory Scanner that will help him find his parents. He ends up traveling to the future and meeting his entire future family. A large sign in the future says TODAYLAND, which is a clever nod to Tomorrowland in the Disney Parks. The elementary school Lewis attends is called Joyce Williams Elementary School and is a reference to the author of A Day with Wilbur Robinson. Originally Disney was going to make this story into a live action film, but animators thought it would be better suited as an animated film.
11) Treasure Planet: 15th Anniversary
The first of three movies on this list to be directed by the amazing team of Ron Clements and John Musker, Treasure Planet had its world premiere in Paris on November 5, 2002. This film is based on the novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and he is honoured in the film as the solar galleon is called the RLS Legacy. The story centres around Jim, whose full name is James Pleiades Hawkins, and his adventures as a cabin boy on a ship destined to find the galaxy’s greatest treasure. The character of Ben Gunn, the marooned shipmate of Captain Flint, was a robot called a Bio-Electronic Navigator in this adaptation and was voiced by Martin Short. Treasure Planet was the first animated film to have all of the backgrounds done by computer.
10) Lilo and Stitch: 15th Anniversary
Lilo and Stitch was released on June 21, 2002 and was one of the only animated films to be produced at the Animation Studios in the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park in Florida. Lilo and Stitch features two original songs, “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” and “He Mele No Lilo” and seven Elvis Presley songs. The home of Lilo and her sister Nani is on the island of Kaua’I where they adopt Experiment 626, whom they think is a dog, and name him Stitch. The character of Stitch is immensely popular at Disney Parks all over the world and he even stars in the Enchanted Tiki Room in Tokyo Disneyland. This film resulted in several sequels such as Stitch! The Movie (2003), Stitch has a Glitch (2005), and Leroy and Stitch (2006).
9) Hercules: 20th Anniversary
Who put the glad in gladiator? Hercules! Another Ron Clements and John Musker film, Hercules premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City on June 14, 1997. To promote their newest animated film, Disney ran the Hercules Electrical Parade, an adapted version of the Main Street Electrical Parade, throughout the streets of Manhattan. Hercules is based on the Greek mythology hero Heracles, though in the film he is known by his Roman name, Hercules. The film is narrated by the five Muses who perform the narration in the form of gospel songs. They are the Muses of Epic Poetry, History, Comedy, Dance, and Tragedy. An artistic team took a trip to Greece and Turkey in 1994 to get a firsthand account of the historical sites and landscapes.
8) Aladdin: 25th Anniversary
Aladdin was initially released on November 11, 1992, with a general release on November 25, and was an instant success! It remains one of Disney’s most popular animated movies to this day. Aladdin received five Oscar nominations with two wins for Best Score and Best Song (“A Whole New World”). The lyrics to the songs “Arabian Nights”, “A Friend Like Me”, and “Prince Ali” were written by lyricist Howard Ashman before he passed away in March of 1991 and the remaining two songs “One Jump Ahead” and “A Whole New World” were written by Tim Rice. All music was written by Alan Menken. Animator Eric Goldberg used the fluid and curvy caricature style of Al Hirschfeld for the creation of the Genie and animator Andreas Deja based his design of villain Jafar on Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (1959). Aladdin was also directed by Ron Clements and John Musker.
7) The Rescuers: 40th Anniversary
Based on the children book series of the same name by Margery Sharp, The Rescuers was the first of two films about the mice Bernard and Miss Bianca. The Rescuers was released on June 22, 1977 and its sequel, The Rescuers Down Under, was released in November of 1990. This was the first Disney animated feature film to have a prologue before the opening credits and it shows Penny throwing her message in a bottle into the bayou water. Bernard and Miss Bianca are part of the Rescue Aid Society and their motto is “Through storm and rain and dark of night, we never fail to do what’s right”. The Rescuers received an Oscar nomination for Best Song (“Someone’s Waiting For You”). This song was performed by Shelby Flint who also sang “The Journey” and “Tomorrow is Another Day”.
6) The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: 40th Anniversary
Narrated by Sabastian Cabot, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh features three Winnie the Pooh shorts put together to make one full length feature film and was released on March 11, 1977. The film opens with a live action Christopher Robin’s room and leads into Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974). Check out a previous blog post about the history of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
5) The Jungle Book: 50th Anniversary
The Jungle Book was released on October 18, 1967 and has the honour of being the last animated film that Walt Disney personally worked on. This film was based on the collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling. The Jungle Book received an Oscar nomination for Best Song for “The Bare Necessitates” which was written by Terry Gilkyson. All other songs were written by the Sherman Brothers and the background score was written by George Bruns. Many of the names of the characters were based on simple translations from the Hindi language such as Baloo meaning bear and Haathi meaning elephant (for Colonel Hathi). The four vultures in the film were originally going to be voiced by the Beatles and the finished film still contains elements of that idea in terms of their appearance. Their names are Buzzie, Dizzie, Ziggy, and Flaps.
4) Fun and Fancy Free: 70th Anniversary
One of many Disney animated package film produced in the 1940s, Fun and Fancy Free was released on September 27, 1947. The Walt Disney Studios produced feature films made up of several short films during World War II as a way to cut down on costs. Fun and Fancy Free only contained two segments. The first segment, Bongo, is about a circus bear who longs to live in the wild. Bongo falls in love with Lulubelle but has to rival Lumpjaw for her affection. Bongo is introduced by Jiminy Cricket who sings the song “I’m a Happy Go Lucky Fellow” which was originally written for Pinocchio. The rest of the Bongo segment is narrated by Dinah Shore. The second segment is Mickey and the Beanstalk, which is introduced by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen who is telling the story to the young actress Luana Patten.
3) Saludos Amigos: 75th Anniversary
Hello Friends! Saludos Amigos was originally released in Brazil on August 24, 1942 but was not released in North America until February of 1943. This was the first of the six package films that were made throughout the 1940s. Saludos Amigos is made up of four segements: Lake Titicaca, Pedro, El Gaucho Goofy, and Aquarela do Brasil. Both Saludos Amigos and it’s 1944 sequel, The Three Caballeros were films made as a result of Walt Disney’s Good Neighbour Tour of South America in 1941. Saludos Amigos received three Oscar nominations for Best Score, Best Sound Recording, and Best Song (“Saludos Amigos”).
2) Bambi: 75th Anniversary
Walt Disney’s 5th full length animated film was based on the novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten and was released on August 9, 1942. Bambi is a roe deer in the novel as it takes place in Austria, but in the film he was changed to a white-tailed deer since this species is native to North America where the film is based. The music for Bambi was written by Frank Churchill and Edward Plumb and was nominated for Best Sound, Best Score, and Best Song (“Love is a Song”) at the Oscars. Bambi has the longest time gap between original and film sequel in movie history at 64 years.
1) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: 80th Anniversary
Disney’s very first princess is looking good for turning 80! Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angles on December 21, 1937 and made movie-making history! Known as “Walt’s Folly” before being released, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs completely changed the future of animation and gave the world a cast of fantastic characters who are still very well-loved to this day. Walt was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for Innovation for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which was in the form of one full size Oscar and seven miniature ones and the film also received a nomination for Best Score.
So a very Happy Anniversary to these 13 animated films which have achieved a major milestone this past year! Thank you for captivating movie-goers for the past 80 years and giving us many characters to love and cherish!
Wow, so interesting!