1980's Disney Animated Movies: The Lost Years...

[Taco-Calamitous]

In the past couple of days, I have watched two old Disney animated movies of the 80's; The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective. It almost seems strange that these two make up almost half the number of Disney's animated movies during that decade; the other three are The Fox and the Hound, Oliver and Company, and The Little Mermaid. The Fox and the Hound came out in 1980, and the Black Cauldron came out in 85, which means there was a 4 year gap of no Disney animated movies, as compared to the following decade when they put out an animated movie every year (sometimes more.) So what was going on?

Apparently, Disney was not the premier studio for animated films at the time; apparently other studios' features were overshadowing the house of mouse. Don Bluth was making movies like "The Secret of NIMH," "The Land Before Time," and "An American Tale," the latter coming out in the same year, and stealing all the thunder away from The Great Mouse Detective. It wasn't until The Little Mermaid came out that Disney really returned to prominence (for a while.) They reinvented themselves with that movie. But were the other movies of that decade really that forgettable?

I think "The Fox and the Hound" is a movie beloved by a lot of people, so that doesn't really factor in; I'll leave that one alone. (Then again, it's not featured as prominently as some Disney movies before and after...) However, what happened with the Black Cauldron? It took years to make, was the most expensive animated movie to date... and then earned back less than half its production price at the box office. Personally, I thought it was a fun movie; I enjoyed the dark atmosphere and villains, the Horned King especially sticking out as one of the more visually upsetting Disney villains this side of Fantasia's Devil.

However, they took that atmosphere and tried to combine it with the usual Disney kid fair, and that's probably what made it not work; too scary for little kids, and too kiddy for teenagers. Plus, it is apparently not very faithful to the book it was based on, combining elements from two books, greatly changing the behavior and appearance of some characters, and completely adding others (from what I've heard; I've never read the books.) A lot of factors doomed the movie to being shelved for 15 years, before it was released on VHS in 1998.

The following year, The Great Mouse Detective came out, and was actually a mild success, earning a little over 10 million more than its production costs. It was based on the Basil of Baker Street series of books, and featured the voice acting talent of Vincent Price, and the guy who played Scrooge McDuck on Ducktales (Alan Young.) I saw the movie in theatres when it was rereleased in 1992, although I hadn't seen it again since today.

The movie was more lighthearted and fun than The Black Cauldron, and had more endearing characters; I've seen Ratigan-the villain-listed in several places as one of Disney's top villains. I also read a thread on IMDB where a bunch of girls talked about having a crush on Basil, the Sherlock Holmes inspired main character. I personally think both characters are great, Basil in particular; he reminds me greatly of Gusto Gummi from the Gummi Bears (maybe Gusto was inspired in part by him...) The first time I saw the movie, I thought it was fun, but it didn't stick out to me too much in the face of other animated movies featuring anthropomorphic mice or rats, like The Secret Of NIMH, An American Tail, or-Disney's other movie featuring talking mice as the protagonists-The Rescuers and its sequel, the Rescuers Down Under.

I never saw Oliver and Company, although we had a novelized version of the story (which I did not read, though it had pictures from the movie in the middle.) I got this one recently too, so once I watch it, maybe I'll update with my thoughts on it. EDIT: I saw it tonight, or most of it; my copy didn't have much of the ending. I think it's really good; a classic of its own right. Although it's based on another book; Oliver Twist... probably obvious, now that I think about it. The Artful Dodger, Fagan (I kept on thinking that name sounded familiar while watching it.) I read it was a box office success, too.

Finally, the Little Mermaid. I think it may have been the first movie I ever saw in theatres. I loved it then, and still have fond memories of it now, even if it was a children's movie, and maybe a bit of a "chick flick" as I heard it referred to on the internets elsewhere. A lot of times I'll forget it came out in 1989, thinking of it as a 90's movie. I kind of think of it as one anyway, given that it is a very different kind of movie than Disney's last several prior offerings:

It involved a love story that was the prominent plot in the movie. The next two movies would do the same, and even the next few afterwards had a prominent love story as well (Pocahontas reverting back to this formula.) Also, unlike the last two movies, the two main characters were human-well, mostly human-another trend seen in the next tow movies, and something Pocahontas reverted back to after The Lion King.

So... is the theme of love that important? Or is it having main characters who are not talking animals? (What about the Lion King?) Or was it something else? Was it focusing on weekly cartoons on television? (The early 90's featured a lot more of that, though...) Or focusing on live action much more during that time period? What was Disney doing that decade? And furthermore... what did you think of their animated titles during that decade? Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[lottiepop]

I've only just noticed this thread... Anyway I'm doing a project at the minute on Walt Disney for film studies class and I've seen all the films you've mentioned, I love "The great mouse detective", it's one of my all time favorites! I also like "The Black Cauldron", it's quite fun and I'm sure if I was younger I would have found it pretty scary. I believe the 1980's was a quiet time for Disney, I think at this point all of Disney's old animators were getting a little too old and had yet to pass their knowledge on, which only became apparent with hits such as "The Lion King" during the early 90's aka the second golden age for Disney.

I'd also like to say Disney has done some mature pieces you know, especially for the war. He did a short film called "Education for death" in 1943 which is shocking, of course it was propaganda but it doesn't change the fact that it was shocking. I'm still trying to get hold of it, but anyone whose interested should check it out. It's about a young boy called Hans and in indoctrination into the Nazi regime.

[Taco-Calamitous]

Yeah, a lot of people contributed the animation studio going downhill around that time to Disney dying, as well; around the early 70's or so. Don Bluth left after the Fox and the Hound, I think, because he said the studio had "lost it's magic." Also, that Disney had been around for some time, and that people felt like they knew what they'd be getting from them (a friend on dA pointed this out.)

I should also probably point out that the Rescuers Down Under was one of the few early 90's Disney animated films that didn't meet expectations; it only grossed around $25 million, I think. It's a shame; it was a pretty cool movie.

That sounds like an interesting movie. I might check it out, if I see it somewhere. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom