Walt Disney

The first feature-length cartoon

The first feature-length animated film that laid the foundation stone for Disney company and the genre itself. If this movie failed Disney company probably would never get off the ground and dozens of masterpieces would never see light of day. It is questionable if we would even have this genre today. The success of this movie encouraged other companies to take this path and enrich childhoods of many generations.

The movie was made in four years, two million $ was spent, and it made a profit of around 200 million and won a bunch of awards. A masterpiece of art that laid the foundation of a new genre, resisted the test of time and to this day it keeps its place at the top of best movies of all times. Despite the progress of technology, even after 80 years, few cartoons reached this level. These days cartoons are not made by hand and the production process is much faster and easier, but movies are mostly tragically bad. That's sad. By today's standards I would give it 8/10, but considering that it was handmade 80 years ago and influence it has on everything that came after, even 10/10 is not enough.

And of course, we must not forget fantastic songs led by "Heigh-Ho".

Childhood memories

When I see the cartoons that kids watch on TV these days I'm really worried about what they'll grow up into. All the fairy-tale imagination disappeared from kid's channels, and beautiful animations are replaced with modern ugly-simplified and mostly stupid characters. It is up to us, 20th-century generations, to show today's kids all the magic of old Disney and preserve it from fading into oblivion. "Fantasia" is Disney's approach to classical music and, I must admit, it's not one of my favorites. I always loved the animation part, but the music was quite boring for me as a kid. Still, its quality and worth are undisputable. If nothing else, this is the best way to try and bring Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, closer to kids and let them decide for themselves. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas was and still is my favorite part of this legendary musical. Some parts are fantastic, others I didn't like at all, and my average rating would be about

7/10

One of my favorite childhood memories and one of Disney's masterpieces, far better than anything they are making today. Unfortunately, it is hard to find because Disney was forced to withdraw it... Why ?! Because the movie is accused of racism and bad stereotypes. The movie was not directly forbidden, but whatever agency was in charge of this kind of stuff those days, they let Disney know that showing a warm family atmosphere between slaves and their owners is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. I understand fights against discrimination and for equality and tolerance, but they really push it too far and destroy many beautiful things of great value by sticking to their principals. I mean... Disney did not come up with this story in the 20th century with the intention to offend the black race. This movie is based on a book that is written in the year 1800. Should they raise the author from the dead to change his novel, just because society's circumstances are changed 150 years after ?! If this movie is offensive to the black population because of slavery, then let's banish slaves from movies about ancient Greece or Rome, let's change the history. Ridiculous. This movie is not offensive discrimination, this movie is one of the most emotional and beautiful masterpieces made for kids in the history of animation.

9/10

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Although I really don't lie musicals, I have to admit this is in every way one of the best movies ever made. It won 5 Oscars out of 13 nominations. If you ask me, it deserves at least 50. Before this, Julie Andrews had few TV roles, but this is her debut feature film and she already got herself Academy Award. Her beauty and charisma combined with her acting are one of the biggest advantages of this film. Dick Van Dyke is great choice for the role of Bert and kids are very cute. Directing is great, special effects fantastic for its time and animation perfectly integrated. Music is excellent and almost every song became evergreen hit. But all of that is less important. What makes this movie one of the best of all time is wonderful emotion it brings. It tells one of the most beautiful stories ever told. When it makes you laugh, it's not because something is funny, but because it pours pure joy into your heart. When it makes you cry, it's not because it's sad or pathetic, but because it's sincere and genuine the way only kids are able to be. Movie that everyone should see at least once in a lifetime. I know I'll see it many more times, especially if I have children one day.

<3 10/10 <3

Everybody wants to be a cat

Although it isn't among the Disney's top masterpieces, it is unfairly neglected. Cats are my favorite creatures, so maybe I'm biased, but I could watch this cartoon hundreds of times. Also, I always preferred old school animation over computer one, and when you have excellent drawing and add even better jazz to it, you get unforgettable experience.

8/10

Everybody wants to be a cat Because a cat's the only cat Who knows where it's at Tell me, everybody's pickin' up On that feline beat 'Cause everything else is obsolete

A square with a horn Makes you wish you weren't born Every time he plays But with a square in the act You can set music back To the caveman days

I've heard some corny birds Who tried to sing Still a cat's the only cat Who knows how to swing

Who wants to dig A long-haired gig stuff like that? When everybody wants to be a cat

When playin' jazz He always has a welcome mat 'Cause everybody digs a swingin' cat

Beautiful adventure, not completely for children, shown in naive way typical for Disney movies. This could be made into much more complex movie and with today's technology it could be top blockbuster. Story, acting and directing are decent, but special effects and editing are pretty bad even for its time. But, this is just a Disney from 70's so we should turn a blind eye a bit. It is entertaining and it has Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration. It's worth watching.

6/10

I didn't enjoy a movie this much for quite some time. Brains off, laughter on, push play and enjoy. Many brag about it being unrealistic. Damn, people, this is Disney comedy for kids. It is not supposed to be realistic, it is supposed to be fun and it's very successful in it. For almost two hours I was elementary school boy once again, just relaxing after school and watching good old-fashioned TV. I have no objections to this movie, except maybe car chase scene being too long. I recommend it to everyone with all my heart.

7/10

Disney classic that can not be judged by criteria we use for most of the movies. There's no much of a story, nor acting or directing, or any other special qualities technically speaking. But this movie perfectly portrays innocence of childhood. It's not probable anyone with two-digit age would find it interesting, but it is sweet as honey and only someone without a heart could resist loving this chubby bear.

7/10

Almost three decades ago, when I saw this movie for the first time, it's excellent music made it number one on my list of Disney favorites, and it stayed there to this day. "Under the Sea" is, without a competition, the most catchy Disney song ever and it totally deserved Oscar it won. "Kiss the Girl" was also nominated, and when two songs from the same movie compete for the same Oscar it's clear how great this soundtrack is. The most beautiful and the most romantic Disney animated flick, with the most singable and catchy songs. Every time I see it I feel like teenager in love.

10/10

When I was a kid this was one of my favorite comic-books. I think I still have it somewhere. Story is variation of Aladdin, objectively, far below Disney classics, but it doesn't make this movie any less fun. Just relax and enjoy the ride with Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby. <3

7/10

Simplified but beautiful

This movie is an adaptation of the story from mid 18th century written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. The original story is completely different and I prefer it to Disney's version, but I understand why did they have to take a totally different approach and I admit that the result is amazing. Still, I recommend you to read the original text because it will shine a new light on the story and give you insight in its depth and true meaning. Disney's movie is meaningful, but it's mostly just a fairy- tale, while the original has a much heavier background. This is the very first animated movie nominated for an Academy Award for the best picture. It didn't win it, but it won two other Oscars, for the original score and the title song.

8,5/10

Disney + Robin Williams = Timeless classic

The US-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee protested over the pro-Western display of Aladdin and Jasmine, who is always without a veil, over the fact that all the characters with the turban are bald, and that all the villains are caricatured personifications of prejudices about the Arabs. But the fiercest protests were caused by a verse from the song "Arabian Nights," which opens the cartoon. The verse now reads "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense, it's barbaric, but, hey, it's home". In the original version, the verse read "Where they cut off your ears if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but, hey, it's home". This provoked such an alarm that the film was placed among the most controversial achievements of all time.

Personally, I find this information quite interesting, but totally irrelevant, because the animation is excellent, the music is beautiful, the story is quite solid, and the film that stars Robin Williams by default can not fail.

8/10

As expected from Disney. If we put aside tradition of making animated masterpieces and concentrate on feature movies, Disney rarely fails, but there's even fewer great movies. This one is no exception. Quite dark story presented in optimistic and cheerful way typical for this company. It's fun and entertaining and it has no bigger flaws, but there's nothing to praise either. Good choice when you just want to relax your brain, cause it's not needed for watching this flick.

6/10

"The more I learn what is a man, the more I want to be an animal."

I will not participate in the internet debate whether this film is better or worse than the animated "The Jungle Book", because this is not an adaptation of a cartoon from 1967, but a completely different story, based on the same characters. While the cartoon follows the adventures of the boy Mowgli, surrounded by animals who think and speak as human beings, the feature film shows the adult Mowgli, and the animals are real animals, without attributing human traits, and Mowgli communicates with them in their "languages". I'm a bit surprised by the amount and the explicitity of violence, injury and death, since this is a Disney movie, which means it is primarily intended for children. Camera that zooms a man drowning and finally dying in quicksand isn't exactly a sight suitable for children. Jason Scott Lee is visually perfect choice and has played a great role. Of the more famous, there are Cersei Lannister and John Cleese, but the animals carry main role and the charm of this film. About 200 trained wild animals were used. For tiger scenes, only the most indispensable staff remained on the set and the blue screen was used, but many scenes with wildlife are completely authentic, which leaves a stronger impression than the best CGI. Although it tells another story, the film retains Kipling's spirit and respects the "law of the jungle": You can kill only to eat or to avoid being eaten.

8/10

Mowgli: "Then do you eat him?" Boone: " No, of course not." M: "Does he want to eat you?" B: "Why, no." M: "Then why kill him?" B: "Because he is your enemy." M: "What is enemy?" B: "Someone you hate." M: "What is hate?"

A very nice story with a lot of potential that this film wasted. The first half of the movie is slow-paced and boring, while everything is happening in the second half, so the story is quick and undeveloped. I have the impression that I've watched an introductory episode of a series rather than a complete rounded movie. Song "Colors of the Wind" may have earned the Oscar that year (I do not know what was its competition), but music as a whole is below Disney's level. There aren't any catchy songs that once you've heard them you'll never forget. I finished this movie about 15 minutes ago and I already can't remember any of them. All in all, cute but forgettable.

5,5/10

I watched this movie because somewhere I ran into comparison with Nightmare Before Christmas. It is far from bad movie, but Tim Burton is just a producer here and comparing this with movies Burton wrote and directed is nothing but blasphemy. My main objection to this movie are pretty much boring songs. It's unbelievable that this movie was nominated for Best Music Academy Award. Out of all Disney animated movies I saw so far this one has definitely the worst soundtrack and not even one song that became evergreen hit. Overall, I have no objections, but no commendations either. Average Disney flick suitable for children only.

6/10

Featured adaptation of "101 Dalmatians" resembles of a cult "Home Alone", but instead of a forgotten boy, we have a large number of varied animals, who are trying to save the puppies from two clumsy robbers in the service of Cruella De Vil. Cast is made mostly of English actors, who perfectly imitate cartoon characters. One of the bandits is Hugh Laurie, a genius Dr. House, and Glenn Close, six times Oscar nominee, perfectly presented the role of Cruella. There is also Joan Plowright, a widow of Laurence Olivier, who definitely deserves to be more famous for her roles than for her late husband. Special recognition must be given to dog handlers who were in charge of the 250 dalmatians used for filming. Movie objectively probably deserves a lower grade, but animals, which, unlike those in the original, can not speak, impressed me so much with their performance, and even brought me to tears on several occasions, that I can not rate it less than a strong seven. Also pay attention to Dr. John's "Cruella De Vil" track, which is much better than the original from the animated version.

7,5/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcdQk7JBPzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quSKBCJP4YU

George of the Jungle (1997)

A movie that makes me happy.

9/10

George of the Jungle 2 (2003)

Sad attempt to get more money on old glory...

This is a disgrace in almost every way. I have nothing against movies that are meant to be in more than one part, not even those meant to be single movies but then inspired sequels, but when they knock something together just to try and get a few dollars more of the old glory... yuck.

The new cast is not bad itself, some of them are maybe even better than the original cast, but they miss the charm that we fell to in the first movie. It simply isn't it. Music is copied from the first movie. The story is unoriginal and dumb. Humor is rerun or exaggerated or simply pointless. CGI is a story for itself. In the original movie, you could not tell that the elephant is not the real one, while here all animals look like they skipped from a cartoon. Not only unconvincing, but also very irritating. The screenplay was obviously forced without ideas or inspiration and then put into the movie that I barely forced myself to watch till the end. In one word - sad.

3/10

I love to put my movie marathon on pause from time to time and watch some Disney cartoon for a change. It's healthy for a soul. From this one I did not expect anything at all and I was in for a pleasant surprise. Young and silly scientist gathers expedition to find Atlantis, but his crew are not who he thought they are. After about 20 minutes I lost any feeling that I am watching cartoon and I experienced this same as feature movie. It would be great if they would really make one. It hold attention and does not irritate you with too much niceness and morality, so it is not annoying to non-kids audience. It's not on the level with greatest Disney masterpieces but it definitely is worth watching. I really enjoyed it.

7,5/10

I'll never get tired of this movie.

8,5/10

George of the Jungle (1997)

A movie that makes me happy.

9/10

George of the Jungle 2 (2003)

Sad attempt to get more money on old glory...

This is a disgrace in almost every way. I have nothing against movies that are meant to be in more than one part, not even those meant to be single movies but then inspired sequels, but when they knock something together just to try and get a few dollars more of the old glory... yuck.

The new cast is not bad itself, some of them are maybe even better than the original cast, but they miss the charm that we fell to in the first movie. It simply isn't it. Music is copied from the first movie. The story is unoriginal and dumb. Humor is rerun or exaggerated or simply pointless. CGI is a story for itself. In the original movie, you could not tell that the elephant is not the real one, while here all animals look like they skipped from a cartoon. Not only unconvincing, but also very irritating. The screenplay was obviously forced without ideas or inspiration and then put into the movie that I barely forced myself to watch till the end. In one word - sad.

3/10

Everlasting war between fans of DC and Marvel universes sucked me in pointless thinking of which one is better for a while. I don't know who's better, but I know that both can kiss Disney's ass. As a kid I was comic-books fan. There were superhero comics mentioned above, than Il Grande Blek, Za-Gor-Te-Nay, Martin Mystery, Dylan Dog and bunch of others. I gave up on comics long time ago and the only one I still cherish is unsurpassed Alan Ford. But as a child, I did not rejoice in anything as much as I rejoiced Mickey and company.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy, as three musketeers, are saving princess, followed by original lyrics written on the famous compositions of legends of classical music. I don't know why I decided to watch this at all. I suppose I wanted to take a look at how Mickey looks like nowadays and turn it off in a few minutes, but I ended up watching it till the end with a smile from ear to ear. And to be honest, I didn't feel so cheerful for a long time. Disney forever <3

8/10

IMDb rating is currently 5.8/10. Movie was nominated only for Razzie and Stinker Awards, and financially it's one of the biggest fiascos in history. Of the invested over 100 million, it pulled out about 20%. I'm asking myself who's crazy here...

I think that the main problem is that most of the people view this film as either the adaptation of Verne's novel or as a remake of the 1956 film of the same name. In both cases movie would be a failure, but this is neither remake nor adaptation of the novel, so the bad reputation is caused by prejudice rather than the real quality of the film. Script is based on Verne's novel, but but this adventure comedy is a homage to Vern, not an adaptation. Story is modernized, enriched with new adventures and references to many personalities and events, and combines genres with taste and measure in a comedy that keeps the attention and smile on the face from the beginning till the end. When criticizing this film, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is Disney and that accordingly it must be children-friendly.

Apart from Schwarzenegger, from whom we don't expect much anyway, the acting is very good. In addition to Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan, who are the bearers of this film, in other roles appear many famous faces, among which are Cécile de France, Jim Broadbent, Ian McNeice, Ewen Bremner, Macy Gray, Rob Schneider, Luke and Owen Wilson, John Cleese and excellent Kathy Bates as the Queen.

In my opinion, only those who do not like comedy and adventure as a genre could be dissatisfied with this film,but such people are not competent to judge it and it certainly is not fair that they influence its ratings.

8/10

Good plot, great acting and directing, and fantastic visual effects. It lacks some of the "soul" first one had, but it's still a sequel and it's bound to repeat itself and lose some soul on lack of originality. But whatever it loses on originality, it is more than covered by quality in every aspect.

When I was watching the first one, unfortunately, I did not pay attention to music. This time music hypnotized me. It is so good that I even watched complete ending credits not being able to interrupt music that follows it. The movie sounds fantastic.

And of course, Johnny Depp, the only man who could possibly pull off Jack Sparrow, one of the best actors of our time.

8/10

• You're mad. - Thank goodness. If I wasn't this would probably never work.
• Do you think he plans it all out or just makes it up as he goes along ?!

"I'm going to beat your pancreas with your spleen!"

A Disney cartoon that brings us the adventure of a TV star dog and his newly acquired friends, an alley cat, and a pet hamster. Bolt is a superhero dog, who lives in the delusion that his powers from the TV series are real, and his gradual discovery that in the real world he is just an ordinary dog leads to a series of comic situations. An additional plus to his character is that his voice is lent by John Travolta. Among the more famous, there are also Miley Cyrus, Malcolm McDowell, and Chloë Moretz. The film lost the race for the Oscar for the best animated feature film to the legendary "Wall-E". Nothing spectacular, but a lot of fun.

8/10

One of the cutest things I have ever seen. <3

The fourth movie in the Pirates franchise is a bit below the level of its prequels, but that does not mean it's bad, it's just a bit less great. The story is linear this time, there are less plot and twists than before, and Penelope does not fit into this world so good, in my opinion. But Jack Sparrow is Jack Sparrow, the movie is visually beautiful and followed by music that crawls under my skin deeper and deeper with every sequel, becoming closer to be my favorite soundtrack ever. I can't wait for the 5th that is announced for 2017.

7,5/10

I always loved Disney cartoons, but also Tim Burton's. And then I run into a seemingly incompatible combination. Burton's tribute to Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" in Disney production. Story about a boy whose dog gets killed just before school science fair and who decides to take drastic measures. Emotional in Disney manner, morbid in Burton manner and beautiful in both.

7/10

Western "Pirates of the Caribbean"

This is one of those movies that critics destroyed without a good reason. I read bad reviews and I cross myself with left, right and my feet. It got some bad reviews from critics so a bunch of smart-asses decided to lubricate it with their own spit. To be clear, I do not have respect for the majority of professional critics. I especially don't pay attention to negative reviews. On the contrary, they often make me want to see the movie even more. If I skipped everything critics tried to destroy I would miss a bunch of excellent movies.

They say it's not accurate. Accurate to what?! It is not a historical movie and it's not a remake. The old one was a Western classic and this one is an adventure/comedy. They criticize the quality of the screenplay and acting. Sure, no one could get an Oscar for it, but it was not the intention of this movie. This is Disney adventure with the goal to entertain, not to be Nobel prize level literature or Oscar contestant. But what shocked me the most was an argument that appeared in several negative reviews. They said this movie is essentially a Western version of "Pirates of the Caribbean" as if it were a bad thing!!! For God's sake, in what universe this could be shortcoming?! If you did not like "Pirates" why the hell did you even try to watch this? Being a Western version of "Pirates" is probably the main reason I wanted to see this and it is definitely the main reason I loved it.

I had many things to say about this movie, but, after I discovered this phrase, everything else I could possibly say becomes redundant. Those five words are absolutely perfect to describe this movie completely:

Western "Pirates of the Caribbean" equals must watch!!!

8,5/10

One of the best Disney feature films I saw so far. It's not on par with Pirates franchise or Lone Ranger, but it could not possibly be because it's completely kids-friendly. No one dies, there's no jokes inadequate for kids, it's tame fairy-tale, but it's beautifully written, designed and filmed and in the given limits it's the very best Disney movie I saw. I'm not sure, but I suppose that story is prequel to classic Wizard of Oz tale. Nothing here is superb, but there's no flaws either and I warmly recommend it to all fairy-tale and/or Mila Kunis fans.

8/10