Loveday Writing

Now that I’ve watched and written analysis pieces on the ten animated feature films of the Revival Era: The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Winnie the Pooh, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Frozen II, I’m going to rank them from my least favourite to my favourite.

10 – Ralph Breaks the Internet

This film tackled the internet in an interesting way and had a lot of potential. However, I felt that its exploration of the internet and its potential was ruined by being too fast-paced, overpacked with plot, and shallow and dated with its excessive pop culture references, and is why it came in last place for me.

9 – Winnie the Pooh

This film is not bad by any means, I personally enjoyed it and found it sweet and charming, however it ranks in second-last for me as it’s a weaker entry in the Era. I felt this film would have been better suiter as a sequel to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in the Bronze Age or an early entry in the Renaissance Era, like the Rescuers Down Under was to its predecessor film.

8 – The Princess and the Frog

The film that kicked off the Revival Era, whilst I enjoyed Disney’s return to 2D animation and the storytelling of this film, like Winnie the Pooh, I felt it was a weaker entry in the Era overall, mainly due to the plot dragging on a little bit.

Unfortunately, due to this film as well as Winnie the Pooh’s lack of success at the box office, todate no 2D animated feature films have been released since Winnie the Pooh. However, The Princess and The Frog did end up leading to Disney modernising other fairy tales and sources of story material, which ultimately led to the Revival Era’s success in the years to come.

7 – Moana

Whilst I enjoyed Moana’s premise of a strong, powerful young woman on a journey to self-discovery, and the film crew’s efforts to be authentic, this film ranks in seventh place for me due to the plot dragging on a bit at times.

6 – Big Hero 6

Whilst I enjoyed this film immensely and its ability to be human and relate amongst its futuristic and technological setting, it comes in the middle of the road of my rankings. This is due to its obscure source material, and its futuristic and technological setting feeling out of place amongst the other films in this Era.

5 – Tangled

Whilst this film was a step up from The Princess and The Frog due to its smooth 3D CG animation and clever adaptation of its source material, it’s also another middle of the road film for me, purely in comparison to the films that I’ve ranked above it. However, it was a film that was a good preview of the things to come for the Revival Era.

4 – Frozen II

The final film of the Revival Era and the sequel to the Era’s most successful film, ultimately Frozen II comes in fourth place for me due to its obvious weaknesses and inferiority to its predecessor. These weaknesses included the exposition provided by Anna and Olaf, Olaf’s retelling of events, the soundtrack being too similar to the soundtrack of its predecessor, and the predictability of the film’s plot and outcome.

3 – Wreck-It Ralph

The first film in the Era to contain an original story and Disney’s first animated feature film to be based in the video game universe, Wreck-It Ralph is a clever, detailed film that comes in third place for me, due to being a slightly weaker entry in comparison to the films that came in first and second place.

2 – Zootopia

This film comes in second place due to its ability to be a well-told, well-written racial allegory, which was well balanced with comedic elements. I appreciated the film crew’s efforts to creative an inclusive world for all animals, and ultimately juxtapose it with the racial tension and issues that played out in the film’s second and third acts. I also appreciated that the film was a contemporary buddy cop comedy, in contrast to its predecessors focusing on princesses, and revival of stories and technology from the past.

1 – Frozen

This may come as a surprise to no-one, but it did kind of come as a surprise to me. Knowing how successful the film and overplayed its signature song was, I did wonder whether I’d end up liking it, and I did for many reasons.

I personally felt that this film could have very easily fit into the Renaissance Era, which you wouldn’t be able to say about many of the other films in this Era. I also felt that the film did the perfect job of emulating Disney’s past, being contemporary, and being timeless for those who will watch it many years from now. I also felt that the film crew’s choice to make the focus on true love on sisterhood instead of romantic love, was a solid modern interpretation of the true love concept.

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