Disney's emperimental era.

[CrazyGirl17]

I dunno, I kinda like some of the movies that came out of this time period, like The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis the Lost Empire, Lilo and Stitch, and Treasure Planet.

I think they are doing good but are extremely annoying with this whole "REAL LIFE SHOWS! THE TEENS WILL LOVE IT!". I hate how we lost Nick, Cartoonetwork, and Disney to this terrible fad.

Agreed whole-heartedly, I am so freaking sick and tired of all this tweenie crap... even though I'm not a kid or a teenager... (I hate feeling like an old person when I'm barely in my twenties...)

 

[badgersprite]

Did somebody say Disney?

Personally, all my favourite Disney films are from the '50s. Emperor's New Groove was great fun (I even liked the show The Emperor's New School to be quite honest with you), and I actually did like Bolt, but I still can't help but feel a bit let down by the modern era of Disney as a whole.

To be honest, with the exception of Mulan, I was never a fan of even the '90s "Renaissance" Disney Princess movies. Aladdin and The Lion King are flawless in my eyes, and I'm a fan of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, but '90s Disney just started doing things that rubbed me the wrong way, basically by completely screwing up their sense of time and place, including "wacky sidekicks" where not needed who often aren't funny and serve only to clash with the tone, and resorting to becoming really tacky, generic and ending with a library of films that just kind of scream "PLEASE LIKE ME I'M TRYING SO HARD", as compared to Dreamworks (which also does this to a huge extent, let's be honest) but who at that time in the late '90s were making freaking Prince of Egypt, which is probably my favourite Western animated movie period.

I don't know I just find it ironic that rewatching all the old animated Disney collection like the giant nerdy fangirl I am, I felt like I (and the audience) was treated as a smarter person by the movies from the '40s and '50s than by the modern ones.

In conclusion, thank God we've still got Pixar. /geeky rant

 

[Atmos Duality]

Of that list the only films I remember being a significant public success were...Lilo and Stitch, and The Emperor's New Groove.

 

[TheLoneBeet]

I liked Treasure Planet and The Emperor's New Groove. Lilo and Stitch was also pretty good. I could do without the rest I guess. I either didn't see them or if I did I don't really remember them. Actually, Atlantis gets an honorable mention, I mildly enjoyed that one.

 

[twistedmic]

I'd rather have a movie studio experiment and grow than have one go stagnant. Sure, some of the 'experimental' Disney movies may have been crap, but at least now they (hopefully) know what to avoid when making new movies.

 

[RatRace123]

To me, their biggest experiments have been in trying to do CG without Pixar, as well as banking on tween stars to define their brands now. (ugh)
There seems to be a slower flow of that now (I haven't heard any ruminations of the next big Disney teen thing, but that could just be me.) and considering their latest CG affair, Tangled was essentially a classic Disney movie and a pretty good one at that, I'd say they may be finding their way again.

And it may just be me, but I'd love to see Disney tackle Sci-fi again, Lilo and Stitch is one of my all time favorites from them.

 

[bluepilot]

I found that with a lot if these experimental movies, Disney just tried to cram in too many ideas, crazy characters and general wackiness for the movie to be enjoyable. One movie I have in mind here is Atlantis, which had so many characters, did not give any character enough screen time for me to get to know them, and then the plot was predictable and very poorly strung together. It seemed as though the vast multitude if characters got in the way of any action, and ended up standing around waiting for things to happen.

In contrast, I think that the emperor's new groove was a hood one because you had a clear main character and a straight man to tone it down while the king was jumping around. In this movie, the king also grew and developed which us something I want to watch.

Tangled and the frog prince made me love disney again. The just kept it sweet and simple with a modern touch, perfect.

 

[Mathak]

the Lion King was a completely original story with no framework for it.

Except from it being Hamlet-does-Africa, you mean?

 

[IamQ]

Out of those movies I enjoyed Lilo and Stich, Emperors New Groove, Atlantis, and Treasure Planet. Although Treasure Planet was more because it was a really cool steampunk theme around it.

 

[mandaforever]

I LOVED treasure planet! And Emperor's New Groove was so awesome. Although Hunchback and Mulan are still my favorite Disney movies, and I can't pinpoint the reason why they stand out more for me. And I seem to be in the majority, weird.

 

[Jegsimmons]

it was good till after lilo and stitch, then they all sucked. disney, let pixar make the CGI movies, they are better at it, you go back to makeing traditional 2d animated epics about classic stories.

 

[ckam]

Oh, yeah. Dinosaur. Loved that as a kid.

 

[damselgaming]

the Lion King was a completely original story with no framework for it.

Except from it being Hamlet-does-Africa, you mean?

On the 'Making Of' they said they went for Bamb-let. Bambi and Hamlet.

This is actually made even more awesome when you consider that Lion King 3 is like 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'

 

[NLS]

I loved The Lion King from 1994 and was an avid fan of Disney. Then came the 2000s, and I sort of had to grow up and like more "cool" movies.

 

[spartan231490]

Personally, i think the recent decline in disney success has nothing to do with changing the fairy-tale aspect, but instead has to do with fundamental changes in the way their movies were presented.

Let's take Pocahontas and compare it to Lilo and Stitch. In Pocahontas the world was relatively compact, the conflict was pretty simple, and the backstory was minimal. With 3 songs: Virginia Company, Just Around the River Bend, and Mine Mine Mine, you perfectly understand the backstory of the 3 central characters(John, Pocahontas, and the expedition leader guy). Just slightly later, one song gives you an understanding of the conflicting ideals of the two groups of people(Colors of The Wind). When the conflict escalates, it is announced with one song: Savages.

The success of disney stems from their ability to condense 10 or 20 minutes of important information into a 3 minute song. This keeps the attention of small children and emphasizes all the important information they need to know so they don't get miss anything important. This is true of all the classic disney movies. they give you the backstory with music. they announce changes in the situation with music. ect. It's the music.

Now look at lilo and Stitch. All the backstory and important changes are instead presented by dialogue, or the occasional gun-fighty type action stuff. That is the problem with modern disney. Also, they took out a lot of the adult geared humor in recent disney. go watch Hercules and notice in the opening song how they talk about vermouth, an alcoholic beverage. There are several adult-oriented jokes in all the old disney movies, so that the parents can enjoy the movie just as much as their kids. There aren't as many in recent disney movies.

Less music keeps the kids from being as entertained, keeps them from wanting to watch it again. how many times did you rewatch disney movies from the 90s, how many sing-a-longs did they come up with? Also, less adult humor means the parents get bored, and if the parents don't pay attention, it discourages the kids from doing the same. that is why disney has lost the success of the 90s, not because they switched genres.

 

[Spade Lead]

Good came out of it alright, I love The Emperor's New Groove.

Let's take a look at these supposed Bad films and see which ones were clever and well done:

2000 - The Emperor's New Groove. Great Movie, spawned a great cartoon franchise.

2001 - Atlantis the Lost Empire. Never saw it, but looked like Jules Verne for kiddies. I may watch this one with my kids...

2002 - Lilo and Stitch. Oh my God, how can you not love Stitch?

2002 - Treasure Planet. Tried and true formula, take a work of fiction and Disney-fy it. I never saw it, but this was what Disney is all about, right? Taking an original story and making it their own?

2003 - brother Bear. Never saw it, many of my friends liked it...


2005 - Chicken Little. Cute and entertaining

 

[spartan231490]

Good came out of it alright, I love The Emperor's New Groove.

Let's take a look at these supposed Bad films and see which ones were clever and well done:

2000 - The Emperor's New Groove. Great Movie, spawned a great cartoon franchise.

2001 - Atlantis the Lost Empire. Never saw it, but looked like Jules Verne for kiddies. I may watch this one with my kids...

2002 - Lilo and Stitch. Oh my God, how can you not love Stitch?

2002 - Treasure Planet. Tried and true formula, take a work of fiction and Disney-fy it. I never saw it, but this was what Disney is all about, right? Taking an original story and making it their own?

2003 - brother Bear. Never saw it, many of my friends liked it...


2005 - Chicken Little. Cute and entertaining

The movies weren't bad, but they were no where near as popular or profitable as the 90s disney movies. Also, to point out a mistake in the OP. Lilo and Stitch wasn't the only one of those movies that spawned a franchise. Atlantis had a sequel and I think also a show as well.