My Top 10 Most Underrated and Overrated Disney Movies (Part 1)

This list is in no particular order and was NOT stolen from another individual. Copyright Infringement will not be tolerated and all property goes to Steven Chung....AH SCREW IT! I don't care...do what you want. :)  

- Blog #7: It's now November, and I'm ready to write some new lists. Lately I've been watching some old Disney movies on YouTube, and a thought soon came to me. There were a lot of really good Disney movies that were made way back in the day. It's too bad that a lot of modern-day Disney movies have such awful graphics that don't feel right. You have those "3D" and computer designs that just don't feel as real as the actual flip-drawings on canvas. So, for the first time in my series of blogs, I'm making an "Opposites Attract" list that has 5 picks for one side of the story and 5 picks for the other. I'm probably going to be doing more of these in the future for video games or other genres, but for now I'm sticking to making one for Disney movies. Which Disney movies will be on here? Let's find out...

Underrated Disney Movies


1. Alice In Wonderland - No, not the new one that just came out. the animated one. This is one of those movies that doesn't fall into the categories of "Popular Disney Classics", mainly because the main character of this movie goes off in her own direction. Alice starts off the movie being bored of her sister trying to teach her about English history. At that moment, Alice must have been (or was on the verge of) falling asleep. She dreams of "A World Of Nonsense", in which there are no laws of logic or explanation. The story basically goes on to see that Alice finds a white rabbit, falls into a rabbit hole (no logic there, being that Alice was probably trice the size of the hole and was somehow able to go through), becomes large and small to get into a locked door, enters a mysterious world, finds the white rabbit and many other weirdos along the way, reaches a forest where the Cheshire Cat opens a way to the Queen of Heart's maze, gets put on trial for playing a prank on the Queen, the whole dream just goes into mayhem, and Alice wakes up to find out she was DREAMING! (phew) SO, the main reason that this movie is not highly looked upon is because Alice just doesn't seem to have the heart (and mind) that other Disney characters do. It just didn't grab attention to the viewers. It's too bad too, because I honestly thought this movie was like The Yellow Submarine...tripped up, but cool.

2. The Great Mouse Detective - Another great Disney animation film that was not as widely appreciated during its release was this adventure-filled classic. A story that takes place in London, The Great Mouse Detective starts off with a young mouse named Olivia Flaversham. She's celebrating her birthday with her toymaker father. Out of nowhere, a crippled bat breaks into their home and kidnaps Olivia's father. The bat takes the toymaker to his master, Professor Ratigan. Ratigan wants the toymaker to create a robot replica of the Queen of the Mice, all this so that Ratigan can "Rule England!" Naturally, the toymaker refuses. Olivia searches out "Basil of Baker Street", who is a detective that resembles the character of Sherlock Holmes. Basil was very hesitant to help. After he learned the identity of Olivia's kidnapper, Basil sees his chance to stop Ratigan once-and-for-all. Together, along with Basil's "sidekick" Dr. Dawson, the group seeks to save the real Queen from being fed to Ratigan's pet cat and save "Mousedom" (yeah...). The final confrontation is a bell-tower fight, where Ratigan goes insane from being called a "Rat" and ends up falling to his death, with Basil falling as well. However, an invention from earlier in the movie saves Basil's life. Olivia and her father are reunited and England's mouse world is saved from disaster. This movie is great and it surprisingly resembles the adventures of the real Sherlock Holmes. Again, the problem with this movie was that it was released at a time where there were so many other Disney movies that overpowered it.

3. The Fox and the Hound - It seems to be an automatic reception that all Disney movies have to end with a happy ending. I disagree. They can also end with something that can be passed on as a life lesson. The Fox and the Hound is an example of that kind of movie. Disney wasn't always about cute animals, adventures beyond belief, or 100% happy endings. It's rare, nowadays, that Disney films have any sort of useful lessons embedded in their storyline. This movie gave a moment of reflection. It gave people thoughts about how our society acts around us, as well as what the deeper meaning is behind it all. It's really a complex, emotional moral inside a seemingly simple plot. A kind widow, named Tweed, adopts a young fox who was named Tod. Next door, a man named Amos Slade gets a hound dog puppy, named Copper. Copper meets Tod, on account that Tod has a strong odor at the time. Thus, both become playmate friends. However, Slade sees both animals disturbing his other hunting dog (Chief) and he begins to shoot at Tod. He threatens to kill him, if he ever set foot on his property again. Further struggles between Chief, Tod, and Slade leads Copper to believe that Tod was the cause of all the troubles. As a result, Copper and Tod become enemies. Tod was sent away to a forest where hunting was forbidden and a storyline with a female fox (Vixey) begins. Slade and Copper, still hell-bent on catching (in Slade's case...killing) Tod, set up a trap and accidentally provoke a bear-attack. Copper fights the bear, but to no avail. Tod steps in to save his "friend" and both Tod and the bear fall down a waterfall. The bear does not live, but Tod somehow survives. Slade sees the opportunity to kill Tod, but Copper blocks Tod from gun-point. Slade lowers his gun and takes Copper away, only to have Copper smile at Tod, one more time. Just...a beautiful movie. You don't have a soul if you didn't feel heartbroken that Tod and Copper couldn't really be friends.

4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Talk about dark movies. This masterpiece defines the term "Underrated Disney Movie" with its brilliance. Think about it. There were so many references to Hell, Heaven, religion, life, and death. This is as realistic as Disney can get on reality (excluding, of course, non-animated Disney movies). There are even some sexual tensions between certain characters. The story revolves around a gypsy girl, three men who love her, a bell-tower in Paris, and a life of tyranny. Years ago, a group of gypsies fled from the law, while Frollo (Minister of Justice) was on their tail. In pursuit to capture an "unlawful" gypsy woman, Frollo kills her (debatable on whether it was intentional or not) and grabs what the woman was carrying. It was a baby (Quasimodo) or, as Frollo put it, "a monster." Frollo tries to kill the deformed baby, but he is held down by guilt after the Arch Decon arrives. 20 years later, Frollo cares for Quasimodo, who is now the Notre Dame bell-ringer. Quasi dreams of leaving the bell-tower and exploring what's out there in the world. So, he sneaks out to see the "Festival of Fools", where Frollo was forced to attend. Both were unexpectedly greeted by a gypsy dancer named Esmeralda. Quasi gets caught up in the festivities and ends up winning the "King of Fools" contest, while Frollo witnessed everything in deep discontent. Esmeralda tries to save Quasi from torture, but Frollo forbids it. Esmeralda escapes as a fugitive. Frollo's new lackey, Captain Phoebus, searches for the gypsy girl and ends up falling in love with Esmeralda. Phoebus claims sanctuary for Esmeralda, only to have Frollo trap Esmeralda inside the cathedral. Quasi meets Esmeralda, again, and helps her escape. Quasi falls in love, but fears that Esmeralda cares negatively towards his appearance. Frollo's love for Esmeralda is one of sin. It is summed up as, "Be mine...or she will be burn!" Frollo goes to burn down most of Paris in order to find Esmeralda. To be honest...this movie is just something that you have to see to believe. It's just too powerful. I feel like I'm running out of space explaining the story. Doesn't this seem like something that should be looked more highly upon? From DISNEY!?

5. Song of the South - Here's a Disney movie that is both non-animated and animated, but underrated for the most ridiculous reason that I can even imagine. Sure, some say it's legitimate. I find the matter to be absolute tomfoolery. If you've never heard of this movie, or you don't know what I'm talking about, then I've proved my point on how badly this film was publicized. The main reason that this film is (was) bad-mouthed was because of the issue of race. Yup...racial discrimination. This movie doesn't have much back-plot, as it is mostly a movie of make-believe stories. The idea that Disney would even consider this time-period as an idea for a film is mind-boggling. It's absolutely admirable. This movie was not about the ideas of race, but the ideas of how people can find happiness in the most darkest of hours. The American Civil War had just ended. A young boy, named Johnny, believed that he was on vacation visiting his grandmother's plantation. Johnny soon realized that his parents were hiding a secret. They were splitting up for a time and Johnny was greatly saddened by this. Johnny soon runs off into the plantation and befriends an old man (Uncle Rebus). Uncle Rebus appears from time to time, in order to cheer up Johnny and some other children. He tells make-believe stories of "Br'er Rabbit" and his misadventures. Suddenly, we go from real-life to a cartoon world and then back to reality again. These stories were meant to teach simple life-lessons towards young adolescents. Of course, much controversy occurred, due to misunderstandings. However, an accident regarding a bull nearly kills Johnny. The family returns to see Johnny on the verge of life or death. Johnny wants to hear one more story from Uncle Rebus and, miraculously, Johnny survives. It's a very thrilling, but very satisfying movie that leaves you with the thought that the world is not such a bad place. It is a shame that this movie doesn't get the attention it deserves.

 - So, you've read my rant on what I thought were the most underrated Disney movies ever, but what Disney movies that were on my mind when it came down to the matter of ratings being a little too...high? Stay tuned for Part 2, when I discuss what Disney movies are overrated to the public.
     

- Done (for now).