Hello loyal readers and welcome to another issue of Dustin's Dirty Dozen, I am Dustin showing you how many things I can list at once. This issue's list is Disney to follow the Disney list from last issue; however, this list is all about the computer animation. The reason this list isn't called Top 12 Pixar/Disney movies is because there are a couple movies on here that weren't produced with Pixar. So without further adieu let's go to infinity and beyond into the list of computer animated Disney movies.
12) Meet the Robinsons
"I have such a big head and little arms!" that was the line of the film all other incidents got overcast by. I didn't see too many ads for this movie when it first came out and went to the theater to see it because I had nothing better to do. When I saw it I wished that they had advertised it more because it actually wasn't to horrible, in fact it was good. The box office didn't break any records but didn't do to bad, I guess it is all that they could have asked for with how much it was advertised. The voice acting was brilliant as always with mainly famous voice actors over "seen" actors. The seen actors of note were: Angela Bassett, Tom Selleck, Harland Williams and Adam West. Yes, Adam West who is making more of a name for himself as a voice actor then he ever did as a seen actor adding this to shows like Family Guy and the Fairly Oddparents. The seen actors didn't have any major parts in the movie and when it came right down to it were overshadowed by the clearly superior talents of the voice actors. Aside from that this is an example of a Disney computer animated film without Pixar and seemed to me that they did just fine.
11) Dinosaur
Yet another example of Disney and Pixar not working together; even with that, at the time this movie was released it showed off the full potential of what the technology of it's day was capable of. It might have been one step below a "The Land Before Time" clone but no one can deny how utterly beautiful it was, and actually still is. I know with movies like "Epic" or "Pacific Rim" out this day and age this movie is a cartoon doodle on a napkin in comparison but it's still a pretty drawing on a napkin. It was a perfect example of not losing scale in a movie (meaning you never felt like the dinosaurs were any smaller than they were) which is something movies like "Transformers" should have learned from. The film was a box office success taking over $300 million home to Disney owners. Aside from a few classic actors like Joan Plowright making the voices this film had no really big names in it but was still done amazingly by its cast. Plus it introduced us to the voice of Hayden Panettiere way before she dawned the cheerleader costume for "Heroes" so I guess there is that too.
10) Cars
I don't know what made this movie such a big hit but it kind of spun out of control in the popularity scheme. They came out with a sequel called "Cars 2" and now a spin-off called "Planes." The movie brought home almost half-a-billion in box office sales I don't know how much the franchise as a whole has brought in. You see kids today with "Cars" bed-sheets, "Cars" gummies and "Cars" birthday cakes; so somehow I think this movie is Disney's new piggy bank which is annoying but doesn't really distract from the film being good. This film was good I would even go as far as to call it great. When you have the all star line up they do it is kind of hard to fail. Owen Wilson as the main character Lightning McQueen was an inspired choice, Cheech Marin as the low rider Ramone was hilarious as always and even Larry the Cable Guy (who I cannot stand) was great as the dumb tow truck Mater and somehow made the movie better. I don't think Disney or Pixar is going to be done with this series for a good, long time but at least we'll have easy access to watching the first.
9) Wreck it Ralph
If you don't compare this movie to something like "Toy Story" (like Disney was trying to) it is actually pretty outstanding. In a way, it does seem like a "Toy Story" for today's generation but I wouldn't put it right next to something that big because "Toy Story" casts a monstrous shadow. I liked the concept of taking the viewer inside the life of a video game character and the bad guy just being a misunderstood giant with a heart of gold. The characters are three dimensional in the sense that said bad guy with a heart of gold has an anger issue, the annoying glitch is actually sweet and innocent at times and the tough space marine is so tough because of her husband-to-be having been eaten right in front of her. Of course Disney doesn't disappoint with the voice acting. Yet another comedian I cannot stand playing a role perfect for her when Sarah Silverman voices the glitch Vanelope. John C. Reilly and Jack McBrayer being able to step out of the "Will Ferrell scene" by voicing bad guy Ralph and good guy Felix. Jane Lynch being cast perfectly for the rough and tough space marine Calhoun and setting a new standard for kicking a role in the gonads. My biggest tip of the hat has to go Alan Tudyk though who is already an under-sung actor only playing supporting roles or minor roles but now being an under sung voice actor playing King Candy/Turbo. I never knew that the man had that much range in his speaking and I could only wish that he finds himself in more voice roles like this that allow him to play around and make masterpieces in the field.
8) A Bug's Life
Pixar and Disney really outdid themselves with this movie. The story line was as imaginative as ever and took us into the lives of bugs (hence the name). Coming out around the same time as Dreamworks "Antz" it completely stole any and all attention away from the inferior movie with a similar story line and came out with a box office of over $300 million to "Antz" having come home with over $170 million and losing Dreamworks more money than they put into it. I don't know if I can truly call a movie with: Woody Allen, Jennifer Lopez, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, Danny Glover and Sylevester Stallone inferior just because the box office was larger on "A Bug's Life." All in all "Antz" was an amazing movie and in some ways surpassed "A Bug's Life" by relying more on satire and adult references. Plus, it was the first time we got to see some actual competition between the two companies. Not to discredit this movie on the voice acting since we got to hear actors like David Hyde Pierce, Denis Leary (a comic I actually do like), Dave Foley, Phyllis Diller and oh look Hayden Panettiere again. However, the man that stole the show and made all of these other actors look like students was Kevin Spacey. Kevin Spacey is an amazing actor when he is not voicing over grasshoppers but this movie gave him more of a menacing feel than even the movie "Seven." If every actor put as much passion into their voice as Kevin Spacey did for this I would be hard pressed to find a job as a critic in the world of animation for the world would be perfect.
7) Monster's Inc.
Another great imaginative work from Disney taking us into the lives of Monster's who hide under the bed and showing us why they are there in the first place. This movie spawned Pixar's one and only prequel "Monster's University" which was actually one of their few good second movies even if it didn't exactly make sense with the original. For those of you screaming at your screens about how perfect the prequel was let me just put this out there. In the original Mike refers to him and Sullivan knowing each other in the fourth grade in the prequel the first time they met was in college. Even with that grievous over sight the movie was still good. Now for the voices. John Goodman was perfect in the role of top scarer Sully putting another notch in his belt for iconic roles he has produced, even more so for Billy Crystal as Mike. Jennifer Tilly found another good home where her annoying voice actually was put to good use as the character Celia and Steve Buscemi as always being a creepy son-of-a-gun playing Randall. I don't think a character will surpass Boo in level of cuteness but I cannot wait to see Disney/Pixar attempt to.
6) Tangled
It was so hard for me not to put this movie higher up on the list but I feel that when you see the movies that beat it you will understand. I finally got to see this movie after it being out for three years and it completely surprised me by making a character like Rapunzel cool after it has been one of the classic fairy tales of old. It gave us more explanation as to why Rapunzel's hair was long, it finally asked the question of why are these crazy people around me singing and gave us even more animals with attitude. Mandy Moore made the songs all the more memorable plying Rapunzel, Zachary Levi was an amazing voice actor before this movie and this put him over the top and Ron Perlman was Ron Perlman I think enough is said with that. I wish every animated film that Disney comes out with in the future could make this movie a guideline to follow.
5) Wall-E
The first half of this movie seemed more like an homage to the silent film era where most movies were conveyed with scenes that didn't rely on dialogue and if something needed to be explained it was spelled. The second half of this film was pure Disney to the core, unforgettable characters and even a dark look into our earth's future. This message was an unexpected move for Disney telling us to stay green and exercise; which was aimed more towards American audiences I would assume. I don't really know what to say about the voice acting in this since most of them were put through a filter to convey robotics. I did love the choice for Sigourney Weaver as the ship's computer and them going all "2001: A Space Odyssey" on it. Jeff Garlin surprised no one by making a good fat captain and I think even without the voice filter Ben Burtt would have been awesome in his roles of Wall-E and Moe.
4) Finding Nemo
Australia was a setting no animated movies had chosen to take advantage of before this one but that was only a small dip in the ocean of ways this movie was original. You have the lives of fish being the centerpiece of this imaginative film (which I guess we can accredit a little bit to the show Spongebob Squarepants), a crippled boy overcoming his ailment by pushing through after being held back by his father for his entire life and a fish killer that gives Sid from "Toy Story" a run for his money replacing menace with hyper-activeness. Originality aside "Fish are friends not food" was a line repeated through out the halls of my high school over and over again. If Lilo and Stitch was the movie that defined my middle school this would be the movie of High School even though they were only a year apart. Everyone saw this movie which might explain why it held the 25th highest grossing film of all time for so long, until Disney topped it with "Toy Story 3." In every way this movie was a success but as always the most important part of animation to me are the voices. The most memorable being Ellen DeGeneres as the absent minded and hilarious Dory a blue tang who speaks whale and can't remember a thing. Albert Brooks plays a great voice as the over concerned father/clown fish Marlin a hypochondriac from losing his wife and most of his hundreds of children to a barracuda attack. A major round of applause, though, to both Barry Humphries for playing the vegetarian great white shark and Willem Dafoe for playing the war vet seeming Moorish idol.
3) Up
There are sometimes where Disney goes a little deeper with some of the messages in their films (like in the aforementioned "Wall-E") this message was a little more controversial by being about people who are sterile. I know there were more messages then that like the whole reasoning behind the grumpy old man on his front porch yelling at kids, the absent parents of the boy scout and getting old while being forgotten when you were once very famous. Something also has to be said about a movie being the second animated picture in history to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture following "Beauty and the Beast." Edward Asner gave an amazing portrayal of grumpy old man Carl Fredricksen only to be beaten by Christopher Plummer as the old man's idol Charles Muntz. Disney veteran Bob Peterson finally got a memorable role as Dug the dumb dog and Alpha the command dog.
2) The Incredibles
This was an extremely difficult choice for me not to put at my number one, it and my number one are not only my all time favorite animated pictures but my all time favorite movies period. I guess its not such a surprise since most of the animation team from my favorite animated movie, "The Iron Giant," worked on this. It didn't do to bad in the box office making over half a billion dollars and got an academy award for Best Animated Feature beating "Shrek 2" and "Shark's Tale." I can't really call the story-line original since I am sure that there are comics out there that have done something similar, like "Fantastic Four" or another around the same lines. I can't really recall a misunderstood fan boy turning villain, after trying to be a superhero then being scorned by his idol and planning to sell off his inventions when he's had his fun; but I am sure I am forgetting it somewhere in the comic book archives. The voice acting was amazing to say the least across the board. Craig T. Nelson played an even more memorable role in this as Mr. Incredible the father that doesn't like the direction of his life than he did as Coach. Samuel L. Jackson made his debut in animated movies by playing Frozone and played this role (like his countless others) perfectly. The best by far though has to be Jason Lee as the crazed fan Syndrome who gives fanboys the world over a shout out in his portrayal. I'm pretty sure all geeks would probably act the same way if they saw their favorite superheros standing right in front of them.
1) Toy Story Series
O.k. So I coped out, sue me. It was too hard to choose between the three in this series because this is one of the few series out there that actually holds onto its roots from the first one and even improves upon them. The third movie has the amazing ending and new lovable or hated characters. The second one gave us a superior story line then the first and third all together and introduced us to Jessie the Yodeling Cowboy one of Disney's best characters to date (acted amazingly by Joan Cusack.) The first one just stands the test of time with the whole space overcoming the westerns of old being a great plot piece; to Sid being one of Disney's most memorable villains (since we all knew a kid bully like him.) The best part of this series was of course the voices since many could try but most fail at living up to Tom Hanks' legend when he plays any role including Woody. The best part about it though was that the incredible Tom Hanks didn't overshadow Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, or even Don Rickles as Mr. Potatohead or John Razenberger as Hamm who were also important set pieces. Disney hasn't been able to repeat work like this for an entire series before or since. These are movies that comes to mind when I think of good sequels and will go down in history as the one time Disney jumped the hurdle of not living up to the original.
Honorable Mention) Brave
I think we all wanted this movie to be a lot more than it turned out to be and I think that is what killed it for me in the end. It just didn't live up to the hype surrounding it from the excitement of a new Disney Princess. Not that she was a bad character to the contrary she was actually an amazing character she was just in an o.k. movie. As a character Merida is set up to dethrone Mulan as an inspiration to young women. Beating all the guys at the games, tough, rebellious, not a damsel in every way possible, it was just sad that the rest of the characters couldn't be as three dimensional or inspirational as her. The overbearing mother was old hat as were the trouble making brothers that might as well, have been called Huey, Dewey and Louie. I wanted so much from this film and it just fell short, a character like Merida and a location like Scotland deserved so much better.
Next week on Dustin's Dirty Dozen: break out the tissues for my top 12 saddest moments in animation.
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