Sunday, August 8, 2010

Disney Through The Years

Anyone who reads my husband's blog (or knows him at all) knows that he likes to do top 12 lists.  He does them all the time.  Occasionally he asks me to list my top 12 to correspond with his.  Today we decided to do that again.  We were recently discussing our favorite Pixar Animation Studios films and we both chose our favorites.  We decided that we also needed to choose our favorite Disney animated films.  As we began research, we realized that the Pixar films are just too good, so we decided to choose only
Top 12 Disney Animation Studio Films.

12. Cinderella (1950)
11. The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
10. Lady & The Tramp (1955)
9. One Hundred & One Dalmations (1961)
8. Robin Hood (1973)
7. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
6. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
5. The Lion King (1994)
4. Meet the Robinson's (2007)
3. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
2. Mulan (1998)
1. Tarzan (1999)

While I was looking up all the Disney films I started seeing a bunch of live action Disney movies from my childhood that I had forgotten about.  Many of these are probably unknown to many people...so I decided that I would choose a
Top 12 Disney Films (Prior to 2000).

12. That Darn Cat (1965)
Starring Hayley Mills & Dean Jones
A hilarious movie about a cat and a bank robbery and all the chaos that can ensue!

11. Candleshoe (1977)
Starring Jodie Foster, David Niven, and Helen Hayes
A Co-Artist recruits a street kid to pose as a granddaughter (long thought dead) to a wealthy woman in order to find a hidden treaure at her estate.

10. The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
Starring Meredith Salenger & John Cusack
Set during the depression, this is the story of Natty Gann, a young girl left behind with friends while her father travels out West in search of work. This is the story of her journey across the country to reunite with her dad.

9. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991)
Starring Gabrielle Anwar & Michael Schoeffling
The story of Sonora Webster, a rider of diving horses. Based on a true story.

8. Honey I Shrunk The Kids (1989)
Starring Rick Moranis
Wayne Szalinski is a crazy inventor that has created a machine that can shrink objects. During a freak accident, the machine accidently shrinks his two children as well as the neighbor kids.  This is the exciting story of the dangerous journey back home through the yard!

7. Flight of the Navigator (1986)
Starring Joey Cramer ...and Sarah Jessica Parker to a lesser extent
The story of a 12 year old boy, David, that that somehow travels through time to 8 years in the future.  While the doctors are trying to figure out why he hasn't aged in 8 years, a space craft is discovered and David seems to be the Navigator of the ship.  The journey back to 1978 becomes one huge adventure.


6. The Mighty Ducks (1992)
Starring Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, and Joshua Jackson
Gordon Bombay is a very talented, hot-headed lawyer who gets into a bit of trouble with the law.  His punishment...to coach a PeeWee hockey team.  Although he doesn't think he can do anything with the struggling team, he must face his hockey past and learn to make the kids into a team.

5. Mary Poppins (1964)
Starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke
The story of the Mary Poppins, the magical nanny to the Bank's children, who somehow manages to save a struggling family with the help of a friendly neighborhood chimney sweep...I mean, one man band...I mean, sidewalk chalk artist...well, you get the idea! Always an adventure with Mary Poppins.

4. The Parent Trap (1961)
Starring Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills, with Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith
The story of twins separated shortly after their birth when their parents divorced.  Susan and Sharon meet and camp and after realizing what has happen decided to switch places in order to meet the parent that each has never known...also they decide to try to reconnect their parents.

3. Pollyanna (1960)
Starring Hayley Mills and Jane Wyman
The story of Pollyanna, a recently orphaned child who is sent to live with her wealthy and very selfish Aunt Polly. Pollyanna spends her life looking always for the good and manages to make many friends with very unusual people in Harrington.  Pollyanna manages to infuse happiness and joy into all the people of Harrington.

2. Newsies (1992)1. Midnight Madness (1980)

Starring Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall, and Ann Margaret
A musical about the Newsboys strike 1899 in New York City. This movie has fantastic music and a great cast.

Starring David Naughton, Michael J. Fox, Stephen Furse, and Maggie Roswell
This was my absolute favorite movie as a child.  If you have never seen it, I hightly recommend you find it and watch it!  This was Michael J. Fox's first movie role!
In this movie, an eccentric genius creates a 'game' called "The Great All-Nighter" where he gathers 5 college students and offers them the chance to choose teams and a play the game.  He chooses these 5 individuals wisely, knowing their relationships, so that he can be assured they will play his game.  The game takes the five teams on a wild scavenger hunt all over Los Angeles...it is a wild ride!

So there you have it...my favorite Disney films.  It has been fun looking back and remembering these movies I used to watch a lot as a child.  It seems like a movie marathon may be in my near future...especially since I am sure my brother has seen very few of these!

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