Ranking the Disney Renaissance Movies (1989-1999)

 Oh, the '90s. 

Today we know Disney as an industry juggernaut, who's pretty much bought their way to the top of Hollywood and the entertainment business with their massive success from their past. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Fox, Muppets, ESPN and so much more are now a part of this company's brand and everyone pretty much knows them for all of those things now. But back in the '90s, it was a little different. 

In the 70s and 80s, Disney struggled with its identity after the death of Walt Disney. In that time period, their style of animation changed along with the stories they told. The quality of the movies was pretty varied in terms of their success, but it was definitely a step down from past decades. A lot of the movies in this era might not be considered classics, but there are still some beloved titles from this era like "Oliver and Company", "Robin Hood", and "The Fox and the Hound". A lot of their animated films took a darker tone from what was usually expected from a Disney movie, which was probably what led to their downfall along with lower quality in animation. 

Everything changed in 1989 with the release of "The Little Mermaid", a movie that had been in development for decades apparently. This movie changed things for Disney though, it was seen as a return to form. Bringing back the whimsical fairy tale style stories, brilliant and colorful animation, and some of the most memorable music you'll ever hear. It kickstarted a decade of massive hits for Disney and really turned things around for them after some dark decades. It's a decade full of movies that lots of people hold close to their hearts and brought Disney the biggest success they had ever seen in the box-office. So I thought it would be fun to look back at the 10 big releases from that time period and rank them from worst to best.

10. The Rescuers Down Under

A sequel to the animated classic "The Rescuers" tried to continue the success of the first one, but was ultimately a step-down. This is also the most forgotten about movies in the Disney Renaissance period, mostly because it's sandwiched between two all-time classics in "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast", but also because it feels a bit out of place in this list too. It also did have the misfortune of opening the same weekend as Home Alone so there's that. It's still not really a terrible movie or anything, it's got some good animation and it's pretty short and sweet. It's just not in the same league as the rest of the movies on the list here. 

9. Pocahontas

Pocahontas really isn't that great of a movie, especially when compared to the other movies on this list. It's a movie I don't think anyone would argue for this being the best movie out of this list either, as most of the other ones. The good things about this movie are the animation, which will probably be said about all of these movies. Also, the songs are pretty good, especially "Colors of the Wind" which is very memorable in the movie and even worth listening to on its own. Thinking about it now, this would probably be a good time period for Disney to tackle again, show some love to Native Americans. This movie didn't really do that, though I'm sure it tried? But really, it's the one I've seen the least amount of times and the one I really have no desire to return to at the moment.

8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Probably the other Disney movie of this time period that most people agree wasn't the best. That said it's still a solid film with a good message about acceptance. The animation and style work really well and the time period is one that always fascinated me in French history (that sounds like I took a class or something). The story and characters are sort of mixed from good to bad, not everything is a hit there. The gargoyles in particular I remember not being so good. I can't say I really remember any of the music from this one either, but I remember it being a lot darker than other movies of this time. Actually, this movie might be the darkest in tone from this Disney era. 

7. Hercules

I really like Hercules, but it's definitely got some flaws. Hercules' childhood isn't a great part of the movie and it drags a bit around there until he's finally fully grown. The story of Hercules itself has been done to death in movies from back in the day to this very day it seems people keep shitting out these movies with this character. But despite that, this one still feels like one of the better tellings of that story. It's got a cool art style that adds a lot to its enjoyability. The villain, Hades, is one of the more iconic Disney Villains and probably could be argued for being the best Disney villain ever. He's really funny, but also incredibly diabolical so you still hate him despite his charm. Also, Meg, who's Hercules love interest of sorts, is pretty great too. She has one of the standout moments in this movie in her song "I Won't Say (I'm In Love), which is for sure the best thing this movie's got going for it. Hercules himself though isn't that likable in my opinion, he just seems like kind of a goof with superpowers. But in the end, the good outweighs the bad here, just not enough to make this one of the best of this Disney Renaissance era. To be fair though, the rest of the movies on this list are all amazing movies. 

6. Tarzan

Speaking of stories that have been told over and over, IT'S TARZAN! This movie is great because of one reason and one reason only, Phil freakin' Collins. Okay, that's probably giving him too much credit, but you have to admit this soundtrack is stellar. This movie really gets a lot of things right though, with lots of great memorable characters you actually care about, a villain you love to hate, and a story that really brings a lot of emotions through not just the music, but the character's actions. Despite being raised by animals, Tarzan is still very relatable and his relationship with Jane and the professor is so enjoyable to watch. Not only that but his relationship with the animals too, which makes the story of him being caught between two worlds that much more interesting. There's not really much wrong with this movie, that I can remember. Terk was kind of annoying I guess. 

5. The Little Mermaid

It was so hard choosing between this one and the one that ended up being number 4. This is the one that started it all, that brought Disney back into the limelight and kicked off the Disney Renaissance. It's got some of the best songs of any Disney movie out there and a great story and characters. Also, a movie that's more about a father and daughter relationship which was pretty different since a lot of the Princesses at the time seemed fatherless? But Little Mermaid was also the return of musicals and they really did a good job at using that to boost the movie's enjoyment. "Under the Sea" is an all-time classic and "Part of Your World" and "Kiss The Girl" are up there too. Then there's another great Disney villain in Ursula who set the standard for the Disney Renaissance's iconic villains. She's not the best, but she's up there for sure. Prince Eric was kind of lame though. 

4. Mulan

Pretty much the inspiration for this list, with its recent live-action remake being released and reminding me how much better these animated movies are then the new remakes. Mulan is so close to perfect, but it suffers from very minimal flaws, mainly just the villain who doesn't really have much of a character outside of just being a blood-crazed warrior. Outside of that, you get lots of really fun and memorable characters. The relationship between Mulan and Li Shang is really great to see grow throughout the movie and there are actually some really great emotional moments here that hit pretty hard. The movie is also really funny at times with some great slapstick style humor and comic relief from Eddie Murphy as Mushu the dragon. There's also arguably the best song/montage in all of Disney, "I'll Make a Man Out of You" which shows all the characters' growth perfectly. It all comes together so perfectly, it was hard not to put this movie higher on the list. 

3. Aladdin

Robin Williams. I could just leave it at that, but I should probably explain a bit more. This movie did change the animation landscape forever though, and it was all because of Robin Williams. In some ways, it did change it for the worst through no fault of his own. Before this movie, voice acting in Disney films was mostly done primarily by voice actors or maybe broadway singers/actors depending on their roles in the movies. Robin Williams didn't really want to be the center of attention for his role, but Disney went against him and made him that anyway. His massive success in the role and his popularity as the Genie made it so the future of animated movies would be cast by more famous actors and celebs versus just professional voice actors and singers. That's how important his role in this movie as Genie was and how groundbreaking he was. The writing was so well done and the jokes were topical at the time, making the movie feel a little more relevant to the times despite taking place in the distant past. But, there's also a great romance in the story between Jasmine and Aladdin that carries the movie along with another great villain in Jafar. The music, while not my favorite of the movies, was still pretty great in its own right. 

2. Beauty and the Beast

Got to say it was really hard picking between these last two, as it if wasn't already pretty hard putting all of these in some ranking. There's a reason this is still one of the only animated movies to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Well, one reason is cause it's run by a bunch of out of touch old people, but the other is because this movie was truly groundbreaking in animation. If you had to say what the perfect animated movie is, this one would have to be in that argument. The animation itself is beautiful and the score that goes along with it just elevates the beauty (no pun?) of the movie. And you can't have a great movie without great characters and a story that pulls you in, which this movie also excels in. Gaston is one of the most entertaining villain characters in Disney animation, a guy you a lot of people love maybe even more than the heroes. But there's a fantastic love story here too between the Beast and Belle, one that's done very well in slowly realizing their love for each other and the Beast breaking out of his shell. The soundtrack is also iconic, with some of the best Disney songs out there like "Beauty and the Beast", "Be Our Guest", and "Belle". 

1. Lion King

There's nothing quite like scarring children for life with the death of a father lion named Mufasa and his son Simba trying to wake him up. I promised myself I wouldn't cry while writing this post, but I guess that's ruined now. I mean, to be honest, I kind of knew from the start that this would be my number one movie. I think it's about as perfect as a movie can really be from start to finish. Right away the opening shot with the iconic song "Circle of Life" kicks in and it's already amazing. You get some fantastic Elton John songs that will stay with you for the rest of your life and the score by Hans Zimmer will carry your emotions through the movie. Timon and Pumba will steal your heart and probably eat it too. Scar and all his flamboyant greatness sings probably the best villain song in Disney with "Be Prepared". It's all just so perfect, making this my favorite movie of the Disney Renaissance era. 

 

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Mulan (2020)

Mulan is the latest live-action remake of a beloved 1998 animated classic from the giant Disney. Originally set to release on March 9th of the year, but had to be pushed back for obvious reasons. At first, it seemed like it was going to be released theatrically later this year or next year in 2121, but Disney decided to make it an exclusive title on their big streaming platform Disney+. Not only that but also they decided that they would charge 30 dollars on top of the monthly fee for the platform you're already paying for, though you will get to keep the movie in your library for as long as you still have Disney+. So, that's a bit strange, especially considering that it's most likely going to be free in a few months anyway. But besides the steep cost, is the movie at least good? 

If you've seen the original then you already know the basics of the story here. Mulan grew up as a young girl in China most likely around the years 300-600. She was an adventurous girl who often found trouble for herself and her family, unlike the other young girls who were proper and well mannered. She showed a lot of promise in her movement and agility, something that wasn't really important for women to have, but a future warrior to have. As a woman Mulan was set to find a husband, be a great wife, and bring honor to her family in that way. It's something she wanted no part it, but honoring the family is important in Chinese culture. Everything changes though when China faces a big threat in northern invaders with a very powerful army led by a man with great power and a woman with supernatural abilities by his side. All families in China must provide one male to join the army and create a force big enough to fight off the invaders. Mulan's father is the only man in the family and must go to war, but he's already fought for his country in the past and suffered an injury to his leg that forces him to walk with a cane. Mulan sneaks off with his armor and blade to take his place and pretend to be a man in an army that doesn't allow women. 

It's a classic story, one that's already set up pretty well in its message of equality. The movie does that part well, making that message loud and clear while still being true to the culture it's taking a part of. The movie also stars a Chinese cast, with some big names like Jet Li, Rosalind Chao, Tzi Ma, and Donnie Yen as well as a lot of newcomers (at least in Hollywood). All the actors do a great job, though some don't really get a lot of screentime. Then there are the visuals which are at times pretty amazing and other times a little too CGI, but it's not too bad, it's something you'll probably be used to from big studio movies like this now. Some of the sets are pretty spectacular though, but you'd expect that from a high budget Disney movie, but even knowing that it's still really nice to see. 

All that to say that I felt pretty whelmed by this movie. With its recent quality of live-action remakes being pretty poor (Aladdin, Lion King, Dumbo were all pretty bad) I went into this with lower expectations than usual. I think that those expectations were surpassed, but not by much. The movie is entertaining for sure and it was pretty easy to sit through its two-hour runtime. I guess the problem for me was with the characters, as I didn't really care about most of them very much. The movie doesn't really take a lot of time to get you to really know who most of them are outside of Mulan, especially her fellow soldiers. They aren't really given enough time or dialog for you to really care about them individually, I had a hard time remembering which one was which since they don't really do a good job at making any of them unique outside of their appearances. The main villain also feels pretty generic and doesn't really feel very threatening at all. 

The action is pretty well done, with a mix of more realistic sword battles and over-the-top choreography where people are running on walls and doing a bunch of flips and kicking spears mid-air or catching arrows with their hands. It can be pretty fun to watch, though sometimes the over-the-top stuff felt a bit much for me, almost like Star Wars levels of crazy action. There were a few times where the screen would rotate along with the action that felt more disorienting then they probably meant it to, it was an interesting gimmick but one that I didn't particularly love. Overall though it was mostly well-constructed action scenes that were pretty enjoyable. Though, there are some supernatural abilities that I wish they had explained a little more. At times it feels like Mulan is just superpowered to move the story along without having to show her growth too much. Instead of showing her get better through training and hard work, it's more about her learning to stop being afraid to use her superpowers in front of people, which is a little less relatable to me. 

One thing this movie felt like it lacked was a bit of humor, though they did try to put some in there now and then it mostly fell pretty flat. Not that every movie has to be funny, but I think a movie like this probably needs it. I know it's probably hard to translate a lot of the humor of the original to this new one because a lot of it was animation based or featured a talking dragon as comic relief. None of that is in this new one, it would have felt out of place if it had been, but the movie just needed a little more light-hearted tones in the story to maybe make the characters more likable and the movie less dark and overly serious. Mulan herself lacked a bit of personality too and that hurt the story and the flow of the movie too. Thankfully she did have some strong moments of growth and learning that made a lot of sense. 

The Mulan remake is overall a solid movie, definitely one of the better ones (though I guess the bar is pretty low). It almost feels like this would have been one of the first live-action remakes that Disney made because it feels like a good blueprint for live-action remakes along with Cinderella or Jungle Book. But after so many misses it's nice to see one that actually hits and actually tries to do different things, even if it doesn't always work. There's still the problem of Disney's failure at making new and interesting movies/franchises. To me, this movie feels like it was what it needed to be, but it didn't try to exceed that or be something bigger. There was the potential here for a great movie somewhere here. At the end of it, I still find myself just wanting to go back and watch the original, and if I ever want to see this story told again that's exactly where I'm going to go back to, the original. 

Overall Grade: C-

An okay movie that's worthy of a single watch. Not worth 30 dollars though, so if you can wait a few months until it's free on Disney+ or maybe cheaper I'd say do that. Definitely good for families with children, they'll probably enjoy this a lot more. It yet again feels like Disney doesn't fully understand what made those original animated movies so good, to begin with. If you're going to make a movie, it should be because you have an idea for a different take or a way to make it better. It shouldn't feel forced just because it's a sure-fire way to make tons of money out of a beloved classic movie that people are going to go see by name recognition alone. This movie doesn't improve anything from the original and all its new ideas mostly fall flat or are comparatively worse than the animated. It's competent sure, but it's nothing beyond that and it fails at leaving any sort of lasting impression beyond its good message about women, equality, and being true to yourself. 

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