Mount Rushmore of Disney Movies

On the last episode of the Talking Disney Podcast, during the Cody’s Corner segment, Cody issued James and I a challenge to come up with our Mount Rushmore of Disney movies. The only rule, the movie had to be produced by Disney (or distributed by Disney) or one of its subsidiaries during the time Disney owned them. So no LucasFilms or 20th Century Fox prior to Disney buying them. 

Here are my Mount Rushmore of Disney Movies - 

1. Steamboat Willie (1928) - Premiered at Universal’s Colony Theater in New York City on November 18, 1928. It was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to be released (but not the first to be made - Plane Crazy was first) and the first to be released with synchronized sound. The soundtrack was recorded with a 15-piece band and squeaks for Mickey Mouse provided by Walt Disney. The release date for Steamboat Willie is used for the birthday of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. In 1998, the United States Library of Congress deemed “Steamboat Willie” as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. Cost to produce: $4,986 (estimated), Lifetime earnings: Unknown.

2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - “HIS FIRST FULL LENGTH FEATURE PRODUCTION” premiered at the Carthay Citcle Theatre in Hollywood, California on December 21, 1937 and was generally released on February 4, 1938. Despite the initial concerns it was a huge critical and commercial success. News reports claimed after the film ended the audience gave a standing ovation. The film originally cost $1.4 million to produce and the original worldwide gross came in at $8.5 million. For a while after it’s release, it was the highest-grossing motion picture of all-time, until Gone With the Wind (1939) surpassed it. The film received a special Academy Award in 1939 consisting of one full-size Oscar statue and seven smaller statues, presented to Walt Disney by Shirley Temple. The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs led Walt Disney to move forward with more feature-film productions such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi with much of the profits from the film used to finance a new $4.5 million studio in Burbank, California. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress deemed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected it as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the National Film Registry. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked it as the 49th among the 100 greatest American films of all-time, and named it the greatest American animated film in 2008. Cost to produce: $1.4 million (estimated), Lifetime earnings: $418 million (estimated). 

3. Mary Poppins (1964) - Premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California August 27, 1964. This film is “practically perfect in every way” from the cast (Julie Andrews [Mary Poppins], Dick Van Dyke [Bert], David Tomlinson [George Banks], Glynis Johns [Mrs. Banks], Ed Wynn [Uncle Albert], Hermione Baddeley [Ellen], Karen Dotrice [Jane], Matthew Garber [Michael], Elsa Lanchester [Katie Nanna], Arthur Treacher [Constable Jones], Reginald Owen [Admiral Boom], Reta Shaw [Mrs. Brill] and Jane Darrell [the bird woman] to the musical score and songs by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman such as “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Feed the Birds, ” “Jolly Holiday, ” “Sister Suffraggette, ” “The Life I Lead, ” “Step in Time, ” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” The film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, winning five for Best Actress (Julie Andrews), Best Song (“Chim Chim Cher-ee”), Best Music Score (the Sherman brothers), Best Film Editing (Cotton Warburton), and Best Special Visual Effects (Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske). In 2013, the United States Library of Congress deemed Mary Poppins as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected it for preservation film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Cost to produce: $4.4 - $6 million (estimated), Lifetime earnings: $102 million (estimated). The profits from this film were instrumental in the financing of Walt Disney World. 

4. Beauty and the Beast (1991) - “The most beautiful love story ever told.” Premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on November 13, 1991 before being generally released on November 22, 1991. Attempts to develop Beauty and the Beast into an animated film were considered in the 1930s and 1950s but proved to be too difficult. It was the first animated film release to reach $100 million in the United States and Canada, making it the most successful animated Disney film at the time. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the first time for an animated film. It lost to Silence of the Lambs. The film won two Oscars for Best Original Score (Alan Menken) and Best Original Song (“Beauty and the Beast,” Music by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman.) Two other songs, “Be Our Guest” and “Belle” were also nominated. In 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed Beauty and the Beast as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked it 7th in its Top 10 American animated films in 2008. Cost to produce: $25 million (estimated), Lifetime earnings: $424.9 million (estimated).

HONORABALE MENTIONS

Alice’s Wonderland (1923) - Created by Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks and the staff at the failing Laugh-O-gram Studio in Kansas City Missouri. Soon after completing the 10 minute short film the studio went bankrupt and Walt left Missouri for Los Angeles, California. After arriving Walt and his brother Roy Disney sent out proposals to companies to distribute the Alice Comedies and on October 16, 1923, an agreement was made with Winkler Pictures to distribute the shorts. This was the start of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, today known as the Walt Disney Company. In the short film, Alice played by Virginia Davis visits the Laugh-O-gram studios where the animators (including Walt Disney) show her various cartoon scenes on their drawing boards. That night she dreams of taking a train to cartoon-land where she is in a parade, she gets chased by lions into a hollow tree and down a rabbit hole. Finally, she jumps off a cliff and is woken up by her mother back in her bed. The animated short was never theatrically released but sent out to various distributors as an example of what they could do. 

TRON (1982) - Released on July 9, 1982. Along with Universal Pictures’ “The Last Starfighter” were two of the earliest films to use extensive computer-generated graphics (CGI.) The film earned Academy Award nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Sound but was snubbed in the Best Visual Effects category. The director, Steven Lisberger said, “The Academy thought we cheated by using computers.” The groundbreaking film inspired individuals in numerous. One being John Lasseter who directed "Toy Story" and said "without "TRON," there would be no "Toy Story."

The Little Mermaid (1989) - Released on November 17, 1989. This film marked the beginning of the Disney Renaissance in animated film making a return to musical adaptations of (usually) well known classics like in the early days of Disney. Films such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” “Pocahontas,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Hercules,”’ “Mulan” and “Tarzan.” The film earned three Academy Award nominations, the first Disney animated feature film to earn nominations since The Rescuers in 1977. It won two Oscars for Best Original Score (Alan Menken) and Best Original Song for “Under the Sea” (Music by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman.)

Toy Story (1995) - Disney, (the distribution company) premiered the film at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on November 19, 1995. Pixar, (the production company) premiered the film at the Regency Center in San Francisco, California on November 20, 1995. It was generally released on November 22, 1995. The film is ranked 99th on the American Film Institute’s (AFI) list of the 100 Greatest American Films of All-Time. One of only two animated films to make the list, the other being “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” It is also 6th in the AFI’s Top 10 Animation category. In 1996, Director John Lasseter received a Special Achievement Academy Award, “for the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer animated film.” The film was also nominee for three Academy Awards, Best Music -Original Song for “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (Randy Newman) and Best Music - Original Music or Comedy Score (Randy Newman.) It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Joel Cohen, Pete Doctor, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton and Joss Whedon,) making it the first animated feature film to be nominated for an Academy Award in writing. In 2005, the United States Library of Congress deemed Beauty and the Beast as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Walt Disney Company officially bought Pixar on January 26, 2006 and brought them under the Disney umbrella. Up until that point Disney had just been the distributor of the Pixar films. 

To also hear James’ and Cody’s Mount Rushmore of Disney Movies, check out Episode 116 of the Talking Disney Podcast.