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| Walt Disney in the 1950s |
Some of these were inspired by South American benefit tours made by the studio in the early part of the decade (resulting in 1943's Saludos Amigos and 1944's The Three Caballeros, which featured Donald Duck on colorful and vibrant adventures with his parrot friend Jose Carioca). Some of these were simple "double features" (i.e., 1947's Fun and Fancy Free starred Jiminy Cricket MC-ing stories of circus bear "Bongo," told and sung by actress-singer Dinah Shore, and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy in an update of "Jack and the Beanstalk," told by famed ventriloquist-performer Edgar Bergen; while 1949's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad had Sherlock Holmes veteran Basil Rathbone telling the story of "The Wind In the Willows," and singer-actor Bing Crosby telling the story of "The Legend of Sleepy Hallow"). And some were even anthology pieces that came close to Walt's original ideas for continuing 1940's Fantasia (1946's Make Mine Music and 1948's Melody Time).
There was also The Reluctant Dragon (released during the 1941 Writer's Strike, in which several animators and staff never returned to the studio, in spite of the film being a tour of the studio itself), and 1946's controversial Song of the South (set during the post-Civil War Reconstruction, and based on the "Uncle Remus" stories by historian Joel Chandler Harris). This film holds the distinction of being, perhaps, the only film the Disney company has almost completely ostrasized, due to its controversial subject matter and outdated depictions. It's last theatrical re-release was in 1986, and it has never been fully released on home video or other media since then. (Its signature song, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da," has become a studio favorite, while animated characters Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear became central to Disneyland's "Splash Mountain" attraction.)
Many of these shorts and features were creative and fun (they were even some of the first to combine animation with live-action), but they didn't turn a profit for the studio. After all, they hadn't had a successful hit since Dumbo in 1941. So, after surviving the war years--and just as they did with Snow White--, Walt and his team decided to turn to what helped them become successful to begin with: a fairy tale.
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| 1950's Cinderella |
"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"
Walt connected with the rags-to-riches story of Cinderella, because he believed his own life story was as such. Adapting the Charles Perraut version of the classic story, Disney's version retains all the fairy tale/princess conventions that would become commonplace for said features in his lifetime. Yet, despite the central character falling for a Prince Charming and dreaming of a better life (even if she just sings about it), Cinderella is a fairy active and positive character, who shows kindness to strangers, friends, and even to her enemies (specifically her cruel stepmother and stepsisters).
This was one of the first Disney films I remember watching a lot on VHS with my siblings growing up. One of the first powerful movie moments I remember as a child was the scene where the stepsisters tear Cinderella's dress apart, while stepmother Lady Tremaine keeps a cold distance. In fact, there are many other powerful and striking moments throughout the film, even as it balances subplots involving a group of charming mice against the house cat Lucifer, and camaraderie between the castle's King and Duke, respectfully. (The latter was somewhat revisited in 1959's Sleeping Beauty, in scenes between two kings.) Both subplots give the story a fresh angle here, with brilliant humor, physical comedy, and first-rate suspense (such as when mice Jacque and Gus are trying to get the key up the stairs, or when the clock strikes midnight as the coach turns back into a pumpkin). Despite its cartoony elements, there is quality filmmaking here, especially in the framing and timing of various elements.
This was also one of the first feature films where Walt's core group of animators (known as "the Nine Old Men") had a hand in. They included Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnson, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Frank Thomas. The film has wonderful character animation (including Davis's work on Cinderella, Thomas's Lady Tremaine, and Kimbell's mice), as well as amazing art from Mary Blair (who had a huge influence on the style of Disney animated features in the 1940s and 1950s). Walt had stated that his single favorite piece of animation was the transformation of Cinderella's dress (pictured above). I would argue that the most amazing visual moment in the film involves her reflection in hundreds of soap bubbles.
The film's timeless themes of hope and faith and perseverance struck a chord with audiences and critics, and helped revitalize the Disney studio. Furthermore, the success of this film allowed Walt to expand his talents into the growing advent of television, as well as live-action filmmaking (beginning with 1950's Treasure Island), and perhaps his biggest endeavor, a theme park. Even with all this going on, Disney still produced several animated features throughout the decade, the next being an adaptation of a story that, interestingly enough, helped put him on the map.
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| 1951's Alice In Wonderland |
"Off With Her Head!"
Walt had created several short films in the 1920s, titled "the Alice Comedies," which featured a live-action girl in an animated wonderland. He had hoped to make a live-action feature of the shorts somewhere down the road, but eventually settled on an animated version. The film that would become 1951's Alice in Wonderland isn't so much story-driven (it does retain the central plot of Alice falling down a rabbit hole and into a strange world of wonder, imagination, and illogical nonsense).
Animator Ward Kimbell stated that the film "suffered from too many cooks." In other words, several directors and animators involved worked to top the other with their own wild and crazy sequences. (Even Walt found the resulting film disappointing because it lacked "heart".) But maybe that's what makes the movie such an unforgettable one. If it does have a story, it's all over the place, but its animation and characters (including Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, and the smoking caterpillar) are some of the most inventive, bizarre, psychedelic, colorful, and unpredictable ever put on screen. In addition, the central "Un-Birthday Party" involving the Mat Hatter and the March Hare is generally a delight. The result is arguably admired more by arthouse cinephiles than by the general public, even though Disney included clips of the film on his "Wonderful World of Disney" TV program in the 50s.
Child actress Kathryn Beaumont (who later voiced Wendy in Peter Pan) keeps the experience grounded as the curious Alice escapes from reality, only to realize how such curiosity can sometimes lead to colorful madness. It's more daring and unpredictable than, say, Dorothy going to Oz. But Disney's next animated adventure--instead of rabbit holes--would involve flying to Neverland. Not to mention fairy dust.
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| 1953"s Peter Pan |
"Second Star to the Right, and Straight On 'Til Morning"
The 1953 animated version of J.M. Barrie's classic story of Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, and the Darling childrens' journey to Neverland, was reportedly the last feature in which all of the "Nine Old Men" were collectively involved in. And their work really stands out, whether in Milt Kahl's skillful weightlessness of Peter, Marc Davis's spunkiness in Tinker Bell (who has since become a household name), Frank Thomas's scheming and comedic Captain Hook (an ideal villain), Ollie Johnson's jittery Smee, or Woolie Reitherman's hysterical battles between Hook and the tick-tocking crocodile (a scene-stealer). And in compliance with a tradition in the original play, actor Hans Conried voices the roles of both Mr. Darling and Hook
The film did (and still does) receive controversy over its stereotypical portrayal of Native American Indians, with Davis stating in subsequent years, "I'm not sure we would have done the Indians if we were making this movie now. And if we had we wouldn't do them the way we did back then." Some have also criticized the film for "Americanizing" Barrie's original story (which is what many Lewis Carroll puritans supposedly said about 1951's Alice In Wonderland). Even Walt was "displeased" with the final film, feeling that Peter came across as "cold and unlikable" (one aspect, oddly enough, many Barrie experts praised).
These elements notwithstanding, Peter Pan does retain its own sense of magic, adventure, and flight (the scene where Peter and the Darling children fly over London, predating digital animation, really has a sense of vertigo and wonder). And its themes of childhood memories, family, and growing up really come across in the end, fitting with Disney's own connection between childhood and adulthood.
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| 1955's Lady and the Tramp |
A Tale of Two Dogs
1955's Lady and the Tramp represented a rarity for the Disney Studio. It's one of the only animated features based on an original idea. Conceived by writer-artist Joe Grant (and subsequently inspired by stories Walt recalled from his childhood, as well as a story in Cosmopolitan magazine by Ward Greene), the story follows a household Cocker Spaniel, named Lady, whose relationship with her owners, Jim Dear and Darling, changes when a new baby arrives. She soon meets and falls for a stray, footloose mutt, named Tramp.
While being one of the most iconic romance stories in film history (live-action or animated) as well as one of the most contemporary (though still a product of the 1950s), the animation of the animal characters here is one of the most masterful since Bambi. Each character is engaging and has clearly defined traits and personalities, not to mention commentary (an element the studio would revisit in 1961's 101 Dalmatians) from "life on a leash," on the streets, and even imprisoned. Its cinematic filmmaking, like Cinderella before it, is also first-rate, with strong, sharp cinematography, art direction, and staging (including the iconic spaghetti scene, thrilling fight scenes involving Tramp, and Lady's first views of the baby).
Joe Grant had worked at the studio since the 1930s, contributing character designs and story concepts to Snow White, Fantasia, and many of the packaged features of the 1940s. He left the studio in 1949, but returned in the late 80s and contributed to many beloved animated features (such as 1991's Beauty and the Beast, 1995's Pocahantas, and 1998's Mulan) up until his death in 2005. And it wasn't until around that time that he got the credit he never received for Lady and the Tramp.
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| 1959's Sleeping Beauty |
"Once Upon A Dream"
1959 represented the end of an era for Disney animation in Walt's lifetime. Their ambitious and expensive feature Sleeping Beauty was the last feature made with a sense of romanticism, before the animation department made their subsequent features using the Xerox process (which we'll touch on later). It was also the last fairy tale they made for thirty years, until 1989's The Little Mermaid.
On the other hand, it's a rather simple story where the title character (Princess Aurora) has rather little screen time compared with the other central characters (that is, three three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and the unforgettably wicked Maleficent), whom the film is primarily about. The theme of the story centers on the protection over the beauty and innocence of a princess who is cursed at birth, and sentenced to a "sleeping death" by a jealous fairy. (Sound familiar?) The approach to the story makes it distinct from Snow White and Cinderella, even though it features many other familiar tropes, such as "true love's kiss" and talking/singing to forest animals. The main difference with Aurora is that, while memorable in character and voice, lacks depth in comparison.
Sleeping Beauty is best remembered for its impeccable and lavish art direction and set pieces, especially in widescreen. The filmmakers used a process known as Technirama, following Lady and the Tramp's Cinemascope aspect ratio (movie theaters had to compete with television at the time, thus both films took great advantage of the widescreen process), and would only be revived one other time, twenty-six years later, with 1985's The Black Cauldron. The characters of the fairies are humorous and trustworthy (and carry fairy dust different from Tinker Bell's), while Marc Davis's design and animation of Maleficent and Aurora has stood the test of time. Even Milt Kahl's animation of Prince Phillip and his horse Samson are active and engaging. All elements are brought together in one of the film's central moments: the climactic battle between Phillip and Maleficent as a dragon.
Another highlight involves Aurora's dance with the forest animals while singing "Once Upon A Dream" (set to Peter Tchaikovsky's unforgettable "Sleeping Beauty" ballad), showcasing the animators' skill in movement, weightlessness, balance, and synchronization. It recalls the animation of Pinocchio as a marionette, or Dopey and Sneezy dancing with Snow White. It's moments like these that recall the dreams that Disney had that came to fruition, that still live on and inspire. And even though the medium of animation would change for Disney in the 1960s, the medium (and Walt's ambitions) would still carry on.
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