Mark's Reviews

     Disney's Sword and the Stone is a good movie but unlike other films of this period its not a great movie.      A lot holds it back. First of all, there  is themixed quality in animation as especially many of the backgrounds seem too gloomy for the light-hearted tone or just look flat or uninteresting. However some of the other animation is very good and I particularly enjoyed a underwater segment.     Besides some lackluster backgrounds the film in my opinion has a forgettable protagonist in Wart who doesn't seem to grow much as a character even as a majority of the film is supposed to be about his education.       But what saves this film from mediocrity to be an actually quite entertaining if very flawed film is the strength of the supporting characters Merlin and Archimedes who are a delight, especially Merlin with his eccentric and high energy personality. Besides them, the villain Madame Mim is very fun and inter...

      101 Dalmatians is aesthetically a masterpiece for its clever and innovative use of minimalistic backgrounds that make the highly detailed and beautifully animated characters pop out. In some scenes with cars and a snowy background there is even a sort of 3d illusion I noticed created that is really impressive especially considering this film came out in the early 1960s.      And its not just the visuals that stand out either. It's a genuinely great film that combines funny and heartwarming and the puppies are adorable of course. Cruella Devil is so eccentric in an evil and alarming way and one of the most genuinely deranged and unpleasant villains in an animated film in my opinion. And her bumbling henchmen Jasper and Horace are somehow both menacing and very comical at the same time.       The characters are great, the animation is great, and everything about this film is great. It rivals Lady and the Tramp for best animal-centric Disn...

     Disney's Sleeping Beauty is an absolute masterpiece with stunning and innovative animation that is some of the best animation showcased in Disney film so far combined with a top-notch charming and magical story and concluding with the most epic ending so far, in my opinion,  in the fight between Prince Phillip and Maleficent.       Speaking of Prince Phillip he is the first Prince who gets more characterization other than being of royal blood, handsome, and destined to marry whoever the main character is.  He is actually portrayed as likable, charismatic and very brave.      As for Aurora she might not be the most dynamic of the Disney princesses but she is beautiful,  charming, and very sweet.      The three fairies Fauna, Flora, and Merriweather are funny and charming and get a lot of screen time. Perhaps a little too much as they seem to have as much or probably more scenes than Aurora and Phillip bu...

     This beautiful and charming film,  Lady and the Tramp, is yet another absolute masterpiece.     In my opinion this might be the best dog-centric animated film of all time and is an amazingly fun and endearing time with charming characters especially the leads, the adorable and sweet Lady and the rambunctious yet good-hearted Tramp.      The spaghetti/ Bella Nota segment deserves special mention as it's absolutely iconic and heartwarming.       It is mostly family-friendly but there is a scene that briefly implies the death of a dog in the pound as one of the characters says the dog "is taking the long walk" which might be too upsetting to tender-hearted young children.       Overall,  this is one of Disney's most adorable,  heartwarming,  and frankly best films so far and another 10 out of 10.

     Disney's Peter Pan is one of the best animated films of all time in my opinion. An absolute stunning masterpiece and it has everything.  It's funny and exciting with great characters.  Wendy is kind, Peter Pan is cocky and a bit arrogant while still being extremely likable and incredibly brave. And Tinker Bell is delightfully sassy.      The villains however steal the show as Captain Hook and Smee are both an absolute blast. Their hilarious! Captain Hook might be one of the best Disney villains of all time in my opinion as he is menacing and intimidating while being extremely funny with his antics.    The animation is beautiful! Breathtaking even! The music is good with fun and catchy songs.     It's family-friendly but parents should note that there is smoking and some scenes of Native Americans that might potentially be very offensive.     Overall I love this movie and its easily a 10 out of 10 and in the top 3...

     Disney's Alice in Wonderland is a surreal and whimsical masterpiece. It's beautiful and, in my opinion, quite funny, perhaps the funniest of the Disney animated films so far. However,  perhaps its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. It sacrifices some coherence for the sake of its delightful whimsy as Alice drifts from amusing scene to amusing scene with little to hold it together other than Alice's curiosity and eventual search for the return home. Because of this less coherentand more scattered nature, it's perhaps less great a film than the likes of Cinderella, Pinnochio,  or Bambi but it's no less fun.      It's largely a very family friendly film however there is one character smokes.      Overall,  Alice in Wonderland might not be the very best disney film but it is still great and one of the most unique and fun. I would give it a score of 9.5.

     Disney's Cinderella is an absolute masterpiece, charming and entertaining from beginning to end. Beautiful and magical. It's hard to find flaws with this movie. Sure, the love story is very simplistic and the prince isn't very deep as a character.         These are very minor complaints that pale in comparison to this film's beautiful animation and backgrounds, it's charming and likable characters, and perhaps the strongest and most compelling villain so far in the sinister and cruel Lady Tremaine.  Sure,  in terms of sheer terror the Coachman from Pinnochio might have the advantage but he was a more abstract almost demonic type of evil.      Madam Trelaine's form of evil is much more subdued and perhaps all the more relatable and frightening because of that.     The songs are great! The ballroom scene and the dance between Cinderella and the prince are great! This is my second favorite Disney animated movie...

     Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a charming and fun collection of two shorts filled with humor and song.        It's a very good film and the best film by far of the Package Era in my opinion.        The animation is very good and both cartoons featured are whimsical and lighthearted.       Mr. Toad's story was based on the Wind and the Willows and Mr. Toad is an eccentric wealthy  toad with a tendency to get obsessed with various hobbies, specifically automobiles in this short.      The characters, including Mr. Toad, are all charming and likable other than, of course, the villains, which are weasels led by a mustachioed human named Mr. Winky.      I really enjoyed Mr. Toad's story but it's the second story, Ichabod's story, based on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, that is the better half of the film and largely because of its stellar ending.     ...

     Disney's Melody Time is another fairly average Disney package era film but I enjoy it more than Fun and Fancy Free,  mostly because it lacks anything as obnoxious as the terrible puppets. But it lacks cohesion and is a collection of charming small shorts with two segments that in my opinion clearly stand out as the more interesting and engaging parts of the film.       Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill segments are fantastic shorts with good songs and fun stories. I wish that the film was composed of only these two and they were expanded. I feel like the other shorts aren't nearly as good, though I also liked Blame it on the Samba if only because it was good getting to see Donald Duck and Jose Carioca from Three Caballeros again.       Overall this is a very family-friendly film but parents might be concerned of smoking in the Pecos Bill cartoon and a scene of Native Americans in the same feature that might be considered racist by som...

     Disney's Fun and Fancy Free is a collection consisting of four shorts. The first one is a brief opening song featuring Jimminy Cricket and it is entertaining enough. Besides it is good to see the rather lovable insect return but sadly, this time I'm a much less interesting film.      The Bongo short that follows certainly has its charm. It's well-animated and the titular character is rather loveable.        Unfortunately,  it's marred by a poorly thought out and harmful message to children as it's revealed that bears show each other love by a slap. This might be harmful to young children to see cute animals sing about showing their love with physical violence        But Pongo despite it's bad moral message to children is not the weakest point in the film as it's partially redeemed by Disney's top notch animation and by it's charm.       The puppet segment is not very entertaining at all. ...

     The Three Caballeros is everything the prior film, Saludos Amigos,  inspired to be and more. It's a fun, colorful,  and lively celebration of Latin America filled with entertaining and energetic songs and dances and good,  interesting,  often surreal animation.      The titular characters, consisting of Donald Duck, Jose Cariera, and Panchito Pistoles are funny and charming for the most part.       However Donald Duck's constant flirting with women is a bit much and comes across as awkward and weird rather than funny.      This movie is for all ages.       Overall,  I would give this film an 8.5. I think it's a blast but still suffers from the package era effect where instead of telling one great cohesive story it is split into various shorts even though this time most of these shorts I found quite entertaining.

      Saludos Amigos is an interesting and charming film, if not a very entertaining one.        It was made as part of a goodwill initiative to Latin American nations and it highlights and celebrates Latin American cultures.      The film is the shortest,  I believe,  of all the Disney films that are part of its animated classic lineup at only around 42 minutes but despite it's brevity its content is extremely diverse as it's split into several shorts and brief live action scenes.         In the case, the film's diversity of content is one of its biggest problems.  The film tries to cram too much into such a short run time so it comes across as scattered and incohesive.         The animation is of decent quality but it's not the spectacular masterpieces of the previous films.  The Donald and Goofy cartoons are humorous enough and Jose Carrioca, introduced near the fil...

      Bambi is another Disney masterpiece, and enchanting journey that celebrates nature and life with beauty and majesty.         The animation is breathtaking like a painting come to life and the excellent music accompanies this splendor perfectly.        The characters are extremely cute. Indeed, this might be the most endearing and wholesome film Disney made.        Than suddenly this usually happy and adorable depiction of nature can become tragic and dangerous and these sad or scary parts of Bambi's journey from childhood to adulthood are poignant and exciting. However, they might be too scary or heartbreaking for a child audience that would otherwise be likely to absolutely adore this mostly heartwarming and cute movie.       This movie is for all audiences but some scenes, as already mentioned,  might be too much for some younger children.       Overall, this is one...