March Madness: The Animated Films From Our Youth Version

Welcome to a very special edition of The Quest For The Single Finest Film Of Our Generation. A genre that has oft been absent from my monthly musings on the nostalgic films of years past is the animated children's/family movie. Above you will find a tournament bracket (click it for full size) of the 32 animated films from our youth. Now I may be missing some (All Dogs Go To Heaven, Anastasia, and The Rescuers Down Under all come to mind; also, computer animated films were preemptively disqualified), but you weren't at the Triple Rock on Saturday to offer your two cents when this topical idea came to me, so you lost out on brainstorming the key players for this bracket. I highly encourage you to copy/save the JPEG and fill out your bracket (I used MS Paint as my weapon of choice). If you do, email me a copy! Sure you won't be able to wager anything as these films aren't actually going to hit the b-ball court anytime soon, but if you send me a copy, I will use your input to help decide future films to screen at a movie party at my place, attended by Blogulator friends and family in the Twin Cities.

Below you will find my bracket, almost completely filled out, save for the championship spot. It was actually fairly easy to decide the victor of most of these match-ups, but this final epic battle between my two favorite animated films of all time, is quite the dilemma. Robin Hood is the ultimate classic Disney flick based on a timeless tale, and before they were so concerned with having human protagonists! On the other hand, An American Tail proved that you don't need Old Man Walt's blessing to make a touching story with anthropomorphic mice as Russian immigrants succeed! Oh the conflict boils in my abdomen like hellfire! So you there, even if you don't plan on filling out your own bracket, help convince me which is the better film, or rather, which you have more of a nostalgic attachment to. One a lot of saw in the theaters vs. watched solely on VHS, so I wonder if that will end up having something to do with the final championship winner. We will see...in the comments!

How did I organize the initial first round "games" you ask? Well, I pretty simply divided the films into four divisions based on epochs. I even gave them names in my head, which I shall recount for you thusly. Division #1, or The Classics, covers the oldest Disney flicks, from years 1937-1953 and focuses largely on the movies that indisputably carry the most historical and cultural weight from the legendary company. Division #2, or The Baby Boomers, spreads from 1955-1973 and embraces the post-war era of largely animal-centric plots, even when their original stories basically demand a human cast (such as in my beloved Robin Hood, I mean c'mon he's a fox and the king is a lion!). Division #3, or The Renaissancers, from 1981-1995, are a league of Disney movies that run the gamut from true Renaissance pieces that helped rebirth the company's popularity, such as The Little Mermaid and The Beauty & The Beast, but also quieter, earlier fare that over time has gained momentum and support as part of this important movement, such as Oliver & Company and The Fox And The Hound. Last, but certainly not least, we have a couple Disney movies that while successful did not maintain a lot of appeal (at least not by yours truly), along with the non-Disney movies from our youth (and once again by "our" I mean those present during my devouring of a Minneapolis Po'Boy this past Saturday evening) such as The Land Before Time and The Chipmunk Adventure. This, division #4, is known as The Others.

Other notes on the fairness (or lack-thereof) of the first round: some of these match-ups were just plain unfair. If it weren't for the abstract awesomeness of Fantasia, surely Dumbo would have made it at least into the Sweet Sixteen, if not the Elite Eight. I mean, seriously, who can forget how big his ears were? Pretty big! Also, I am quite sad that The Aristocats got beat right out of the gate, because if it weren't for the sheer existence of Tale Spin, Baloo wouldn't have convinced me to let The Jungle Book win that first round, especially because Mowgli and co. got their asses beat in the very next round to the impregnable master of thievery (with a tail!), Monsieur Hood de Robin. Finally, I must mention that A Goofy Movie is only here because I imagine a one P. Arty would be sad if it weren't at least given credit where credit's due. Even before that kinda lame/kinda wonderful College Humor live-action recreation vid went viral, that movie was aces to all the kids that knew, and all yallz didn't even KNOW. You know?

This entry was posted by chris, on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. You can leave your response.