The Underrated animated movies of the '90's

Post by **Hoagiebot** » February 22nd, 2006, 10:26 am

There are quite a few under-rated animated feature films of the 90's that I really really enjoyed, with the first and foremost being the Rescuers Down Under (1990). When I hear a lot of Disney animation fans mention Disney's "Second Golden Age" of animation, then tend to say that it started with The Little Mermaid (1989), and went on to include Beauty and the Beast(1991), Alladin(1992), and The Lion King (1994), and they often fail to mention The Rescuers Down Under all together.

First of all, The Rescuers Down Under was groundbreaking because of the fact thatit was the first Disney animated feature film to use their "CAPS" computer assisted painting system. In addition, the personalities of Eva Gabor (Miss Bianca) and Bob Newhart (Bernard) really compliment and ply off of each other. And what guy couldn't feel for poor Bernard when he kept on trying to propose to Bianca, only to have his proposal interuppted every time of some unexpected event, and then Bernard having to compete against the smooth-talking Jake for Bianca's attention? Reminds me, a lowly nerd, of having to compete against a few jocks back in high school to gain some cute cheerleaders' attention!

Jon Candy was absolutely hilarious as Wilbur and the whole mouse hospital scene was histarically funny! Wilber beats the pants off of the dull old Orville from the first Rescuers any day! And then there's my good buddy Percival C. McLeach. I am a person who likes to think that a movie is only as strong as its villain, and I think McLeech was a great villain! First of all, he was motivated by a real world motivation-- easy money through poaching. Secondly, unlike Madame Medusa who was a real nut, McLeech was very much sane. There were logical reasons for everything that he was doing. Thirdly, he was quite crafty. Hiding in a isolated part of the outback that only contained abandoned mines, tricking Cody into leading him to the eagle, and dispatching Cody to leave behind no witnesses are all above par ideas when it comes to Disney villains. In addition, Joanna waqs an awesome sidekick, and lastly, McLeech had no reguard for life, whether or not it was human or animal. As far as he was concerned, lizards were purses, koala bears were handbags, and young boys were inconveniences that could call the rangers. Rescuers Down Under gets a 5 out of 5 in my book, hands down!

Some other under appreciated animated films of the 90's that make my list are:

Titan A.E. (which actually came out in 2000, but it was already mentioned in this thread so I'll back it up with my approval). This movie had a ton of stuff in it that was great, and I absolutely loved Stith and the other personalities of the crew of the Valkerie!

Once Upon a Forest (1993) - This film was very cute and had some dark scenes in it featuring humans that reminded me very much of some of the scenes from my most favorite animated short of all time, Hugh Harman's 1939 masterpiece "Peace on Earth"

Cats Don't Dance (1997) - Neat setting, character design, and plot. I happen to be fascinated with the American culture of the 1940's, so this movie was pretty much garaunteed to go over well with me. The one thing that happened to throw me off with this film however is that Sawyer's singing voice is waaaay to different from her singing voice. While it's pretty common to have different actresses for singing and vocal parts, the voices shouldn't be so mismatched that it brings your attention away from the film!

FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) - Good music, good message, you gotta love the part where the big lizard tries to eat Zak and talks to Krysta with Zak still screaming in his mouth, and Hexxus's early appearance as a burning skeleton just looks completely awesome!

The Iron Giant (1999) - "When that missile comes down, everyone will die." As I mentioned before, my favorite animated short is "Peace on Earth," and this feature film has a very similar theme of encouraging peace that draws me to it.

Balto (1995) - Very good movie with some really neat sequences in it. The theme is a good wholesome one, and Jenna with her little bandanna scarf is pretty cute too!

I'm sure that I have forgotten something with this list, but this is the best that I can come up with off hand.

Post by **Ben** » February 22nd, 2006, 5:46 pm

Good to hear someone play up the Rescuers.

The original was one of the first - if not the first - Disney features I saw in a cinema, and I still love it.

The second I saw around four times in the theater and still get a bif kick out of it. It's just so different from a standard Disney film, especially of that time.

In Disney's press releases around the time of Dinosaur, they went back to The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver & Company being the first movies to feature computer graphics (of the old print out and cel them technique).

Used to be that those two and Rescuers Down Under got all the kudos, but then the Fantastic Four came along and pretty much wiped out all before them.

I never understood why The Rescuers never made it to a TV spin off or even a DTV movie - it's one of Disney's only "franchises" where there are unlimited stories!

Post by **Meg** » February 22nd, 2006, 10:07 pm

Rescuers Down Under was awesome. I used to watch that movie all the time when I was smaller. (I'd watch it now, too, but my VCR is a cannibal.)

Post by **Ben** » February 23rd, 2006, 8:05 am

It's on DVD, Meg.

Post by **Meg** » February 23rd, 2006, 8:13 am

Well, yeah, but I'd rather get a new VHS player.

Post by **Ben** » February 23rd, 2006, 8:17 am

RDU wasn't ever out in widescreen on VHS, was it? I don't know if I could go back to watching three quarters of an intended image!

Post by **Meg** » February 23rd, 2006, 8:23 am

LOL.

Hey, whatever. VHS is fine with me. Plus, I can't go buying DVD's of movies that I already have - I'd go broke.

Widescreen or foolscreen, it's still the same movie to me.

Post by **Macaluso** » February 23rd, 2006, 10:59 am

DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT!

Post by **Meg** » February 23rd, 2006, 11:06 am

Yes sir, sorry sir.

Post by **Dacey** » February 23rd, 2006, 6:59 pm

I prefer widescreen to fullscreen.

But obviously everyone else doesn't have to feel that way.

Post by **Meg** » February 23rd, 2006, 7:34 pm

Me too, but it won't kill me if I have to watch in in fullscreen. Widescreen rocks.

Post by **Ben** » February 26th, 2006, 7:49 pm

James... should we think about banning Meg from these here boards for such scandalous language and improper views and opinions?

Post by **James** » February 26th, 2006, 9:26 pm

I think we have a provision for banning members for sedition, subversion, and other treacherous behavior.

Post by **Ben** » February 27th, 2006, 9:06 am

Would that be Chapter 39?

I think we should call a board meeting to discuss...

Post by **Meg** » February 27th, 2006, 11:54 am

I'm such a bad person.