The Lion King is the most overrated Disney film of all time. No way does it hold a candle to Beauty and the Beast, which is, in my opinion, the best Disney production ever.

Bingo. This article will attract Tangled fans and that's fine. It was really good. But you are on the mark. Lion King remains king (and queen) of Disney animated movies.

Lion King was good, but I have to admit Tangled would get more replay value for me.

Beauty and the Beast is perhaps my favorite, however. I have certainly seen that one more times than I kept track of.

Lion King?

You mean the ripoff of Tezuka's 'Kimba the White Lion' from 1965?

http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm

I thought the lion king was ok, but nowhere near Aladdin, Hercules, Mulan or The Princess and the Frog.

Anyone who thinks the Lion King is overrated is overrated or a ripoff...come back when you actually know what you are talking about.

I realize that some of the newer films may be technically superior, but I still like the old classics. For my money Fantasia is the best Disney animated film ever made.

Same here! I was thinking that the original Fantasia is the best!

The Lion King was good, but the fact that it's a blatant rip-off (even some scenes were taken wholesale) of an earlier Japanese cartoon called "Kimba the White Lion" drops it's standing.

They're all spectacualar, and we all have our own reasons for thinking one is better than another. I personally think the old Sunday night specials on basic cable were the best.

There's really no point trying to come up with a "best" Disney movie, but for my personal favorites (and not counting Pixar), I think the author makes a pretty good case for Tangled. Only seen it once, but MAN was it good. B&TB may still be my favorite, but Tangled definitely shows Disney's still got it.

Also, high marks for some of their other CG films, especially Meet The Robinsons and Bolt.

Now, that's only the recent films. Of all time? Yeah, I might have to go Fantasia.

Kid: Mortal Kombat, on Sega Genesis, is the best video game ever.

Billy Madison: I disagree, it's a very good game, but I think Donkey Kong is the best game ever.

Kid: Donkey Kong sucks.

Billy Madison: You know something? YOU SUCK!

.

ROFL

I love Lion King. I thought Tangled was good, but it's not nearly the best. Not even close. I won't pick the best but...

Tangled vs. Wall-E -> Wall-E

Tangled vs. Finding Nemo -> Finding Nemo

Tangled vs. Aladdin -> Aladdin (who also longed to be Sultan and have tons of money and who was a thief. Tangled's Flynn is not original.)

Snow White, Sleeping Beauty,101 Dalmatians, Snow White all the older cartoons were actually drawn by hand, scene by scene, comparatively to the CGI graphics (which are a great improvement) but to say Tangled is the best, I have to disagree, monetarily - It's Lion King. Story wise, Nothing will beat the Fox and the Hound.

I actually enjoyed Princess and the Frog for many reasons but the main one is that Disney went back to hand drawn animation. The musical scores where fun to dance to as well. In terms of favorite Disney movie?

Beauty and the Beast...hands down. Then Wall-E.

Surely I can't be the only person who didn't like The Lion King? Quite possibly the only Disney movie I really didn't like...

"but the fact that it's a blatant rip-off (even some scenes were taken wholesale) of an earlier Japanese cartoon called "Kimba the White Lion" drops it's standing." Good thing it ISN'T a fact however, and you are just pulling stuff out of your butt.

THis movie is definitely not for 3 YO. But the latest Winnie the Pooh might be just for him.

Read it again. The horse (Maximus) actually get's a very good mention.

Read the ENTIRE article before you make a fool of yourself.

Yeah, Snappa, you fool! How dare you misread something!

it's a friendly convo about kids movies HT, take a chill pill.

The horse was pretty hysterical. And HT, you should try to relax a tad, jumping down someone else's throat for a simple mistake is pretty foolish in itself.

I'm sorry, but there is no need for you to be so rude, whether you apologize for it or not. This was an opinion piece, and she is entitled to her opinion. I have to agree that this one of the better Disney films, especially from the standpoint of the female character. Yes she is naive, as anyone imprisoned in a tower her whole life would be, but she has spunk and character and a backbone -- something that cannot be said for most of the female characters in you list (only Arial and Belle come even close -- and Arial is arguable, given that every thing she does is for a boy and we're supposed to erspect Belle for her brain, but she reads only romances). Don't get me wrong, I like Jasmine and all, and she did try once to run away, but she was still otherwise subservient to all the men in her life, so she loses points for that. I love the music from Alladin and Beauty and the Beast far better than Tangled, but that was not what this author was using as her criteria, so it does not matter. It depends on your criteria for a good film which you like better. The "classics" are fine, lovely films. The author of this piece meant no disresepect toward them. But for this author and her daughter, Tangled is a better match. Why should you be so offended by that?

Sorry Dman, but Bambi??? Seriously???? Worst Disney movie ever! I have 3 kids, girls and a boy, varying in age drastically and you couldn't pay one of them to watch that movie a second time! I agree with them!

in addition, I LOVED the mom in Tangled! So funny, yet so evil and selfish! She was brilliantly portrayed and loved her singing! "Mother knows best!" : >

I consider Bambi a must watch if only for the trauma value. But for me, there is a VERY important lesson learned in there that some kids don't want to learn today; Life happens! BAD things happen. You can be happy and still grow up.

Actually, I think what may be coloring her opinion is where she is in her life. When my daughter was three, she loved The Little Mermaid on VHS - so much so that she wore out one tape and we had to buy another!

As the parent who watched it with her over and over and over and over, I can tell you, if the movie is good, your opinion of it will grow because of that over exposure. You've become a true expert on it in 50 viewings, on the subtle little things in the drawings that may be missed on a quick first view. The way a scene is colored... or the delivery of a line.

So her opinion became colored, and for her, the film may be the best. Is it for you? Probably not. For me? I'm not sure. But I appreciate a well made film (which it was), and I'm happy for Gael that she can enjoy it with her daughter.

I loved that the villain in 'Tangled' was so subtle. In real life, bad guys don't wear signs that say 'scary bad guy, stay away' like so many other Disney flicks. My husband and I have used Mother Gothel in conversations with our girls about how if someone truly loves you, they do NOT constantly put you down.

My mother always told my sister and I that there were indeed monsters... but that they looked just like real people. Sure, it scared the crap out of us, but we never spoke to a stranger without one of our parents by our side.

Yep, same level as Shrek (and that's not a good thing). Too many references that won't work after 10 years. When it's all about the style and the message, it's not about the story. It was entertaining, but not very thought provoking...

I've never laughed harder in an animated film than I did when I saw Aladdin the first time. For pure parental entertainment value, Aladdin is the best.

To be fair, it should be noted that the character only gains happiness when the blonde hair is turned brown. Cutting the blonde hair away is what allows the character to live free of the burden that it created. Also, her haircut was very stylish after getting cut.

In other words, your sensitivity to hair color may be misplaced when it comes to this film.

Also, her biggest magic (bringing Eugene back to life) happened while she had brown hair.

As an Asain woman with a younger brother and sister, I'm a little pissed that Mulan is the only Asian "princess" in recent Disney history....blah blah blah

blumizu, you miss the main point of the movie- THE STORY. You teach your young sister to see racism instead of courage, adventure, and a thirst for the truth.

Good call, About Time! (About time somebody made one!)

Sometimes these uber sensitive people want to ruin the movie going experience for the rest of us. I NEVER once got the message of the movie was "the glorification of blondness." Seriously, you'd think Nazis made this movie. No, that's not what it was about. At all.

Perhaps if people were open to the entire movie and not hooked onto one thing in it they would be more receptive.

blumizu22- Thats pretty racist.Way to go,teaching your little sister that people with blonde hair are not okay! Not everything is about color,but that is probably the message you are sending to your sister.How would you feel if I commented that I wouldn't take my little sister to see the princess and the frog because of the glorification of oppressed blacks becoming successful? See what I mean? White people are not the only ones that have an issue to over come here.

And for the record,Tiana is my daughter's favorite princess,and although we're white,I buy her all kinds of princess and the frog stuff.We ALL need to get past this.

blumizu22, I am also a Black woman, and I love this movie. Not ONE time did I even THINK that this story somehow glorifies blonde hair. If you remember, her parents were both brunettes, and her mother had beautiful, long brunette hair. Her hair was blonde because of the powers of the magical flower - a glowing magical flower. Nothing that I know of glows BROWN. And it would have been pretty silly to make BRUNETTE hair GLOW!!! Also, in the original Rapunzel story, her hair is blonde. They could have kept it blonde even after it was cut, but they didn't. They made her a spunky, gutsy, cute princess with short, stylish brunette hair. I thought that was FANTASTIC.

Stop trying to find plots in everything. In case you haven't noticed, we are still a minority in this country, so there will be many, many instances where characters in movies don't think and act like us. For once, can we just ENJOY something without trying to read between the imaginary lines? Everything is not meant to teach us something about ourselves or point out our differences. Some things are just meant to entertain us. And this movie does just that.

In my relationship with my sister and all little black girls I am constantly trying to edify them and tell them that they are beautiful, because society constantly tells them they are not. Getting comments from people who will never have to deal with a little black girl hating her dark kinky hair, or her skin color is very interesting and amusing to say the least. Your daughters will always see themselves represented.

We constantly have to fight against every magazine, television show, and movie. Why should I willingly subject my sister to it when there are so many other options that wont fill her with the blonde envy the media does? Why is trying to shield my sister from something its mostly impossible to shield her from, bad?

Blumizu, how about this.

I am half black. I'm 19, so I was already out of my disney phase by the time Princess and the Frog and this movie came out. While I was unsure about the fact that pretty much the only character I had to look up to who was black was Storm from the X-men, it didn't stop me from missing the beauty and power that comes from disney princesses.

If you're upset about her being blonde, you're missing the point. She's not blonde because they think blonde is the most attractive thing to market, she's blonde because her magical powers come from a drop of the SUN: you know, big YELLOW glowy thing in the sky?

I admit there are some pre-occupations with beauty in disney: Ariel changes her look just to woo a man, Aurora and Snow white kind of just do nothing but be pretty the entire movie. But those were made during a time when really, that's all that was expected of women.

But after a while, movies became aimed at changing those things. And if you're hung up on appearances, not only do you miss those changes, you're teaching your siblings that you should only look skin deep in your heroes. If you're only looking at skin color, you're missing the fact that the disney princesses accomplished amazing things for their time period: Mulan defeated gender stereotypes and roles, Belle longed for more than settling down with a handsome husband and desired adventure, Jasmine refused to be a submissive trophy to a man.

Yes, Tiana was a break through, but consider this: When the movie was being developed, Tiana was first named "Maddie", and had wild curly hair, as opposed to her mostly pinned-back-straight hair. Do you know who complained about the original version? Black women! Apparently "maddie" was too racist despite the time period, and having wild curly hair would be "stereotypical". They missed the idea that "Maddie", or Tiana, was a hardworking entrepreneur willing to make sacrifices to accomplish her dreams. And right after all that complaining about her being "too black", they were upset when the prince was originally white! It was supposedly portraying rich people to only be white. Now we don't know WHERE the hell he comes from, because they had to invent an origin for him.

What I'm trying to say is, we shouldn't be hung up on appearances. Rapunzel may be white and blonde most of the movie, but you don't see that (if you're paying attention to something other than appearances). You see a girl with a heart full of dreams and a spirit that her mentally abusive "mother" could not break. That's what you should be asking your sisters to see, not her skin color.

Wow. Before making this post, did you ever stop to think about how racist it make you seem? Or are, for the matter. Anyway, as a youth going to college, love of both black men and woman are very very common. Some of the greatest celebrities (especially in music) are black and are adored by millions of people of all races just here in America. It's common fact that Kanye West, Usher, and Rihanna are on the top of the music industry (among many others). What do they have in common? They are all black and they are all thought to be perhaps some of the sexiest people in America. That is really impressive considering you are a minority here. You would expect China to have a mostly Asian cast in their entertainment wouldn't you? First off, many kids have self esteem issues, from blonde to brunette. But I think the main problem here is that you, yourself, are making your kids feel bad about themselves by hiding them from ridiculous things that you find racist; causing them to feel different and separated from whites, and making them think that this country thinks them to be ugly and inferior to whites and blondes, etc. ect... That is fact! You have issues lady and you may be ruining your children. I'm going to see Men in Black III when it comes out soon because I love Will Smith. I am white, and the fact that he is black doesn't even cross his mind. Trust me, many youths thee days with they were black. Grow up, and get with the times

unfortunately there will always be rasicm viewpoints like blumizu22's until we consider that the only race worth worrying about is the human race.

Jazz: Ariel changed her looks to **be with** a man, not to woo him.

Wow, I had no problem with Rapunzel or her hair, I just felt she reminded me of Belle with the love of books, reading, etc. She is not the first independent female in a disney film (Mulan had her fighting, Ariel was independent etc.). I like Tangled, I don't think it is the best movie, imo. I think it is wrong to hate that movie because she is a blond, I think it's funny because of the sidekick, the fact that she can take care of herself and quite frankly, she's kind of nuts (you would too if you were stuck in a tower). I also liked the stepmom who reminded me of Lilith on Frasier.

As someone who lives in New Orleans, I was very disturbed when black folks screamed that the newest princess would be named Maddie. What is wrong with the name? Did they want something with a De, La, or Ja? I was delighted that the movie was taking place in New Orleans and she was black. I knew the music would be good. My thing was this, if you don't like the fact that disney is making a black cartoon, why don't you ask your good hero Spike Lee to make it. I am glad the movie got made, I saw it at the show and was very happy with it.

The point is, as a black woman, I am happy that a black princess came out. But then again, she is the only disney princess with her own restaurant. I don't understand why black folks had a problem with this, but you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Wow.

Somebody has issues.

Fantasia...definitely. But not the 2000 rendition. It wasn't near as good.
Tangled is fun. But her eyes are distractingly large. Are we sticking to only the animated features? Because Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a personal favorite.

The preview of their wedding looks cute.

A touch of period stereotyping reflects the times, not the quality of the film. Disney also had to put flower garlands over the female centaurettes' chests, too (they were originally topless).

99% people of people would disagree? I think not, and I'm not even including critics. As for what kids would agree or disagree with, the topic is the "best" Disney film, not the best one for kids. And if that, what's your age break? From Tangled I got an hour's plus entertainment. From Fantasia, seeing it first as a seven-year old, I was inspired to a lifetime's interest in classical music, dinosaurs, mythology, abstract art, and yes, even a touch of ballet. Show any kid the Night on Bald Mountain sequence from Fantasia and it will stay with them forever. I'm not sure one could say the same for any sequence in Tangled.

I rate Pinocchio over Fantasia. If I had to pick a #3, it would be Bambi. Beauty and the Beast comes in, for me, at #4.

I would agree that stereotyping reflects the times (a la Song of the South), but in the setting of Fantasia it was never essential to the tone of the film and should have never been in there in the first place. Perhaps 99% was an overestimation, but I really don't think it is very far off. I believe that it is the opinion of the kids that matters most of all, if not for them none of these movies would have been a success. If the kids don't want to see it, the film doesn't make money. If the film doesn't make money, then the merchandise associated with the film doesn't make money. If the mechandise doesn't make money, then no one in a character suit runs around the parks and the movie is all but forgotten. Some examples could be Treasure Planet, Atlantis, Brother Bear, and Home on the Range to name a few. I am sure you saw the films that round out your top 4 when you were a kid and formed your opinion of them then, not as an adult. The kids are what drives the machine that is Disney, and therefore should be the most relevant critics.

As for memorable scenes in Fantasia, yeah they might stick with a kid...if you can get them to sit through it.

I'm 65...I did not see Beauty & the Beast when I was kid.

If, as you say, it's the opinion of kids that matters the most, then certainly my list would not qualify. If we're talking about the "best" Disney film, then it becomes another matter entirely. The one poll whose results I would defer to would be one taken of animation professionals. Perhaps there should be three such polls...one for pros, one for adults in general, and one for kids. Hence the difficulty with all such "best" lists.

So her blonde hair was because it was magic made from he sun? Yes. Thank you. That is EXACTLY what little black girls all over the country/world need to see. Another sun kissed blonde. You're missing my point. Its the "blonde hair is special" thing that i just want to shield her from. Period. Its in every movie, TV show and magazine. Why subject her to that if i dont have to.

Also, as far as "working together to erase any sort of stigma base on a phenotype" I wasnt placing stigma on the character at all. Her being blonde says nothing about her as a person.

Actually, I completely agree with you on Lilo and Stitch. Top that off with it was a good story with strong female characters (albiet really flawed ones) that was a CARTOON amidst a slew of really good CGI movies.

There are very few movies I cried at in theaters, but Lilo and Stitch was one of them. Odd, I know.

I love Lilo and Stitch, too. Somehow I seem to forget it was a Disney movie...

"Tangled" is very cartoonish, too--we absolutely hate the buggy pop-eyed look of the heroine. Do newer Disney girls all have thyroid problems? Looks like future movies are going to have more of the same artwork.

I'll throw in with you! Lilo and Stitch is hands-down the best Disney movie of the 21st century.

I love Lilo and Stitch too. In fact one of my nieces nicknames is 626.

Every time I watch Lilo and Stitch and it gets to the part where the big alien is there to take Stitch. And Stitch says he's waiting. And the big guy asks what he's waiting for and Stitch replies, "Family"...I just lose it. Tears down my face. And the end when he describes his new family as "Little, and broken, but good."
That and the first 11 minutes of UP. Never fails.

Justly said.

Lifeguard, don't you think Princess & the Frog could be a broadway musical? I swear when I was watching it the first time I thought it could be.