Top 10 Disney Animated Films (I've Seen)

10. Robin Hood

I have to admit, this is my favourite telling of the Robin Hood legend I've seen. The Kevin Costner one is entertaining (with a great villainous turn by Alan Rickman) but is quite frankly a bit trash if you look closely. The Ridley Scott-Russell Crowe collaboration is decent and has its moments, but really would've worked better as a Gladiator prequel or something. I also am not that big a fan of the Errol Flynn The Adventures of Robin Hood. Which leaves this film. I love it firstly for the ingenius decision to make each character an animal, Friar Tuck as a mole is just perfect. Beyond this concept the film is just a lovely entertaining ride, utilising the funny but also quite rousing image of animals in combat and milking it for all it's worth, and just acting as a plain fun film to watch.

9. Dumbo

The original underdog tale! Could be a bit longer I suppose, but I guess that's really testament to its overall strengths as a film. It really works best as just a simple children's film (though there is that surreal David Lynchian dream sequence that is worthy of an academic examination), and I can think of few others which do as good a job as this tale of an elephant who learns to fly with his big ears. Not only a very sweet and entertaining film but with a very important central message that's very well handled.

8. The Little Mermaid

Technically cheats a bit by not retaining the heartbreaking original ending to the Hans Cristian Andersen story but I'll forgive the filmmakers for that because this is just such a sweet lovely film, that one probably couldn't take it if it all ended badly for Ariel. The whole mermaid world is really well done, but the film probably excels best once she gets out of water and it becomes quite an interesting examination of a rather unique sort of gradual attraction. It's a uniquely handled romance brought wonderfully to life by some great songs and wonderful animation.

7. Aladdin

A great comedy, this has celebrity voice casting at its peak with Robin Williams' pitch-perfect casting as the Genie dominating the film. Now I will say that Aladdin isn't necessarily the most engaging protagonist, but he works for the film's love plotline and the colourful side characters are more than enough to make up for him. Beyond that it's just a great idea to implant Williams' standup routine into the splendour of the Arabian nights. This film is a great, wonderful ride through some delightful setpieces and if the plot's not really all that complicated, who cares, you've never had a film like this.

6. The Great Mouse Detective

One helluva underrated animated picture. Firstly it has Vincent Price as effectively Moriarty (Ratigan), albeit in a rat form--isn't that just brilliant voice casting? Anyway, the concept itself is brilliant, with the sleazy literal underworld of sewers and rat hidings being the stomping ground for our titular detective Basil (named after Rathbone, of course). I love a good ol' Sherlock Holmes-ian story and this is no exception, the mystery is actually surprisingly well done and genuinely quite unnerving and terrifying at points, but is also offset nicely by an underlying warmth to the story that's also rather well done.

5. The Emperor's New Groove

Kronk is just the most endearing henchman ever, well played by Patrick Warburton, and he's one of the many excellent factors about another one of Disney's most underrated films. Beyond him it's just a very, very clever retelling of well, a great many variations of the 'selfish rich man gains a heart' story trope by turning the titular Emperor Kuczo (David Spade) into llama for his faults by the devious Yzma (a hilarious Eartha Kitt). This is a great example of Disney delving into just pure, unadulterated comedy. The laughs come constantly, and that's all that really matters.

4. Mulan

With one amazing song, possibly my favourite out of all the Disneys ('I'll Make a Man Out of You') it would be easy for one to simply write off the film's excellence to this whammer of a tune. But besides that it's a rousing pro-feminist story, with arguably the best written character of the whole lot as Mulan is a flawed, endearingly naïve but in the end, admirably brave and badass character, the side characters are all delightful and easy to root for (particularly the big lovable Po and the Eddie Murphy-voiced Dragon). The villainous Huns are a bit underwritten but they work as detestable adversaries, and help make the third act every bit as exciting as the first act is remarkably sensitive, the second act amusing and joyous, and the grand whole just a wonderful Disney animated motion picture.

3. Beauty and the Beast

Sublime, near-flawless film. Belle is probably as unique and wonderful a Disney 'princess' (to use the terminology loosely) as they come, and acts as a wonderfully clever, astute foil to the Beast, voiced wonderfully by Robbie Benson. The cast of quirky side characters are all done well, Gaston is a suitably imposing villain, and though simple and straightforward the story is told with such an elegiac, classical flair that you can't help but fall in love with it over and over again. I hestitate to call it the best version of the story, as the 1946 French version is also quite incredible in itself, but this is a great animated film too.

2. Tarzan

Containing two of my favourite Disney Songs 'You'll Be In My Heart' and 'Son of Man' (I'm just a sucker for Phil Collins really), this is an ourageously entertaining Disney venture that brings so much character out of the jungle and jungle life. The voice casting is particularly good here with Brian Blessed, Glenn Close and Lance Henriksen being particularly well-chosen for their roles, it has some excellent action setpieces and as always for Disney at its best, makes the most of the emotional undercurrent to the tale of a man amongst apes.

1.Pinnochio

Pure magic, and Disney at its very finest. It pains me to not give it Best Picture for 1940 but it's such a strong year for film with Rebecca, The Shop Around the Corner and The Great Dictator to compete against it. With splendid imagery, it's appealing on a visual level by just how beautiful and yet disconcertingly dark and morbid it can get with its animation (think of the Jackass transformation scene and marvel at how daring it was for its time), the story flows along beautifully, it packs quite the emotional punch when needed, and has some memorable characters (most notably its array of villains and lowlifes, and on the opposite spectrum the luminous Blue Fairy and the sprightly Jiminy Cricket), a wonderful father-son relationship at its centre, and some great songs, like 'Always Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide' and of course, 'When You Wish Upon a Star'. A masterpiece.

Ranking of the others:

37. Home on the Range

36. Brother Bear

35. Pocahontas

34. The Fox and the Hound

33. Cinderella

32. Peter Pan

31. The Sword in the Stone

30. Bambi

29. Treasure Planet

28. A Goofy Movie

27. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

26. Sleeping Beauty

25. The Black Cauldron

24. The Tigger Movie

23. Hercules

22. Meet the Robinsons

21. One Hundred and One Dalmatians

20. Alice in Wonderland

19. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

18. Lady and the Tramp

17. Frozen

16. Tangled

15. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

14. Lilo & Stitch

13. The Jungle Book

12. The Lion King

11. Lady and the Tramp