Loveday Writing

5 – Fantasia

The halfway point of the Golden Age, Fantasia is an outlier due to its anthological structure with its eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music. The music is played/performed mostly by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the film is narrated by Master of Ceremonies, Deems Taylor.

Fantasia is more like a night at the theatre (due to it being released as a theatrical roadshow), then a movie with a story to follow and escape into. Personally, if a show like Fantasia was put on at my local theatre, I would go to watch it and I’d enjoy it, however I feel that this theatrical masterpiece didn’t translate well into a film (especially a lengthy one) and that’s why it’s my least favourite of the Golden Age.

4 – Pinocchio

The second film of the Golden Age, Pinocchio had a lot to live up to following the success of Disney’s debut animated feature film. While I feel that adapting a children’s novel was a good choice for Disney’s second animated feature film, Pinocchio was darker than I expected it to be, especially the second-half of the film, and in all honesty, I didn’t enjoy these moments, which brought it down in my ranking.

However, even though I didn’t personally enjoy these darker moments, I did appreciate that Disney went with a completely different story both in its content and tone for its second film.

3 – Dumbo

One of Disney’s shortest animated feature films, Dumbo made the most of its 64-minute run time, even if it was filled with a simplistic story, lack of dialogue (with the titular character having no lines at all), and simplistic animation of human characters.

Due to the limitations placed on Walt Disney and his staff due to the need for revenue, they still wanted to tell a good quality story and they managed to do so by going with a more emotive story focusing on the mother-and-child bond, overcoming obstacles, and self-acceptance. The effects of World War II could definitely be seen and felt, but certainly didn’t bring the film down.

As I mentioned in my Dumbo Analysis blog post, this film is the perfect example of what Disney can do with limited resources and was the perfect follow-up to the lengthy outlier of the Golden Age, Fantasia.

2 – Bambi

The last film of the Golden Age, Bambi comes in at number two for me due to the somewhat relatable story of growing up, its focus on human themes like environmentalism and persecution (despite humans being the unseen villains in the film), its innocence vibe, and its cute and humorous characters.

When I was doing my research for my Bambi Analysis blog post, I was surprised to find that the novel it’s based on wasn’t actually written for children and Walt Disney toned down much of the material to make the film child-friendly. He definitely succeeded with the cute and humorous depictions of Bambi, Thumper, and Flower. I personally found Flower and the Friendly Owl hilarious.

Bambi also did things differently in comparison to the Golden Age’s previous films, such as: its villains being human and offscreen, none of its songs being sung onscreen by the characters, and including very little dialogue to tell its story.

Many aspects of Bambi reminded me of the Golden Age’s previous four films, which is why I felt it was the best film to end this era.

1 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

This probably won’t be a surprise to anyone, not just by process of elimination, but because Disney’s debut animated feature film was perfect in many ways.

Making a child-friendly film based on a fairy tale was a great way to engage both the adult and children audience, both Snow White and the Dwarfs were enjoyable to watch, the animation and art was beautiful and masterfully done, and the slower pace of the film makes it easy to engage with and follow.

When it was released, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would have showcased the talent of Walt Disney and his staff, as well as provide a preview of great things to come for both Disney and animation in general. Almost a century later and looking back on it, it’s easy to see why it’s regarded as one of the greatest animated feature films in history.

What do you think of my rankings and how would you rank the five films of the Golden Age? Feel free to let me know by leaving a comment below.