Disney Movie Eras: Live Action Films Thru 1999
This month continues a new series of blogs for fans of popular culture. Whereas in the past explorations of Walt Disney films we highlighted individual works, we will now be talking about the larger groupings of movies, and the various artistic and commercial visions sought for and achieved from said movies.
A quick run though of the eras:
The Golden Age: 1937-1941
Wartime: 1942-1949
The Silver Age: 1950-1967
The Bronze Age: 1968-1988
The Renaissance: 1989-1999
Post-Renaissance: 2000-2009
Revival: 2010-Present
As you can see, the various eras are inspired by historical art movements over the year, as well as comic books. You can draw the parallel, for instance, between the Italian Renaissance, or between the iterated variations of popular superheroes like Batman and Superman.
We will also be covering Disney live action films. The list of films owned by the Walt Disney Corporation is quite expansive because it includes multiple studios and production companies, such as Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, and more. And for good measure, we will also cover animated films that released without the official Walt Disney Pictures branding, as well as films that only released via television or Disney +.
So buckle up everyone as we retread the Disney films of years passed:
While Walt Disney Animation went through its Renaissance, the live-action film segment was about to enter its own renaissance. While it can be argued that the live action films never quite experienced the low point that Disney animation did in the mid-80s, the live action films never quite saw widespread recognition or acclaim. In a phrase, they were kind of 'just there.' This is not meant to sound like a disservice to the films in question, but a recognition that for several years, they simply did not earn recognition worth beyond a casual glance for families just looking for SOMETHING to watch in theaters.
The revitalization of the animated film department brought unparalleled success, not just for the company, but for cinema in general. Several Disney films, like Aladdin and The Lion King became among the highest grossing movies ever. Apart from filling the coffers of the Walt Disney Corporation, it also brought renewed interest and scrutiny to the rest of Disney's projects. Simply releasing a film was no longer enough; Disney's live action department had to be fully committed as well.
In short, Disney ultimately released 51 live action films over the next decade. We will cover 10 of them. Of that number, we will not be discussing the latest trend that Disney technically started, the Live-Action Remakes, and those will get their own entry in this series.
As in many genres, The Disney Company would master the formula of the plucky underdog sports team who wins big in the end. Over the course of the company's history, they would release many such films, but their most notable franchise is of course The Mighty Ducks. While the story is about a completely different team located in Minneapolis, the titular name derives from the real life NHL team, the Anaheim Ducks. Actually, it's the other way around, with the hockey team being named after the film mascot. But the movie proved both popular and profitable enough to inspire a whole franchise! Following, there were two live action sequels in the 90s, D2 and D3: The Mighty Ducks, as well as a hit cartoon show, opens a new window on The Disney Channel. More recently, Disney+ released a rebooted series that has run for two seasons.
So, in previous blogs I mentioned a resurgence of remakes of various live action films. Here's where it started! 1993 brought us a remake to the much older film and book, The Incredible Journey, about a trio of pets who got lost in the Canadian wilderness while trying to return to their home. This remade version enjoyed huge popularity when it released, but changed up the story. Here, the three pets are travelling across the Sierra Nevada in California, and they receive new names: Chance, the bull terrier and narrator, Shadow the Golden Retriever, and Sassy the Himalayan. In addition, and unlike the original film, the animals all get voices, played by some rather big names. Chance was voiced by Michael J. Fox, fresh from finishing up Back to the Future Part 3. Sassy is played by the well-respected Sally Field and Shadow was played by the venerable Don Ameche in what would be his final film roll (and only voice) before his death in 1994.
The film was incredibly popular and profitable, especially on home video, that talks of a sequel were quickly greenlit, paving the way for Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco.
Readers might be surprised to hear that Hocus Pocus was actually a flop at the box office in 1993! No, really! Amazing, right? Considering how popular the film has gotten in the last thirty years, it's hard to think that this film technically lost at the movie theaters. Stiff competition is maybe to blame, since it shared theaters with Jurassic Park. Regardless, Hocus Pocus surely needs no introduction as one of the most popular Halloween films of all time (perhaps only rivaled by various slasher films and Nightmare Before Christmas). Featuring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sister witches, you'd be hard pressed to find more iconic witches in television or film. At one point, both Leonardo DiCaprio and Rosie O'Donnell were in talks to play the lead roles, but Leo's schedule was too busy and Rosie did not wish to play a villain.
Over the years, Hocus Pocus has been an annual attendee of various channels owned by Disney, including The Disney Channel, ABC, ABC Family, and Freeform. Often shown in October and around Halloween, it is the most watched segment of the programming block, and regularly breaks records.
Man, Disney's got both holidays on lockdown! In 1994 they released The Santa Clause, in which Tim Allen plays a busy body toy executive who accidentally (or by fate) becomes the new Santa Clause... after accidentally bringing the current one's career to an abrupt fall. Oops! Now, Scott Calvin has a year to prep for the big job!
While not the only film or even franchise about Christmas in Disney's catalog, this one might just be their most successful. Tim Allen's turn as the legendary North Pole figure spanned two more sequels, The Santa Clause 2 and 3, as well as a series on Disney +.
More of a reimagining than a remake, Tom and Huck is essentially a retelling of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, focusing on the friendship of protagonists Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. There's not a lot to saw about the film that differs from the book, but 90s kids are probably quite familiar with the lead actor: Johnathan Taylor Thomas. The movie plays up their relationship as 'bad boys' in literature, but one can hardly call them the originals, as Mark Twain's works date to the mid-19th century at best.
In 1997 Disney released another family film starring Tim Allen, opens a new window. Boy, he sure had a busy career, between this film, The Santa Clause franchise, as well as Toy Story (don't worry, we'll get to that one!). Tim Allen was one of the biggest actors of the 1990s and still remains popular and well respected today. In this film, he stars as another busy financial guy, this time struggling with divorce. Before his wife will sign any papers, she demands he visits her in the Amazon jungle and spend time with their son! Surprise, he's a dad! And of course, by the movie's end, dad decides he wants his son in his life and has second thoughts about his whole life.
Another 1997 film, Air Bud, opens a new window is one of my favorites. Referencing the great Michael Jordan, the movie tells the story about a talented golden retriever dog with a knack for basketballs who befriends a lonely boy. It's a heart warming story that created a very impressive franchise. Not content with mastering basketball, Buddy would return in several more films, tackling football, soccer, baseball, and volleyball! What an athletic pup! The Air Bud franchise would even spawn a further franchise, the Air Buddies, opens a new window, based on his children. Unlike their father who was an athletic but otherwise mute and very doglike, er, dog, the Buddies were a little more anthropomorphized and had their own voices and went on more fantastical adventures.
In 1998, Disney brought out a new remake, this time based on the 60's film The Absentminded Professor. Flubber stars Robin Williams as Professor Brainard, creator of the miraculous living rubber creature, Flubber. It's effectively a by the numbers film, and not one of Williams' more memorable roles, but it serves. It does feature some neat CG that would be used extensively on a later film.
This might very well be the best remake Disney's ever done. How iconic can you get? It's Lindsey Lohan's first film, and she's also playing both girls! And you have such iconic parents as well, played by Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson. The 1998 remake more than lives up to the well-loved original, and paved the way for Lohan's rise to stardom. And it still holds up!
There are many callbacks to the original one, but the best occurs about 2/3 into the film, where Annie (as Hallie) hums a few verses of "Let's Get Together", a song sung by the original actress back in 1961.
Go Gadget Go! Mathew Broderick stars as the clumsy and hapless police inspector. Based on the hit cartoon, the live action film is full of wacky fun. Oh, and remember when I mentioned CG earlier in Flubber? Yeah, this was their next big film, and they used practically the same techniques here for the Gadgetmobile. The biggest faux pas, if the film has any, is they actually show Claw's face! Not the worst thing, but it was iconic that he was never shown in the old cartoon, only ever his hand. The film bucked that tradition, and in future media Claw's visage remained visible. Also in the film was a young Michelle Trachtenberg who played Gadget's niece Penny. Trachtenberg tragically passed away earlier this year, but we'll revisit another of her films in a future blog.
The film found moderate success and spawned a sequel, Inspector Gadget 2, opens a new window. None of the main cast returned, but fans actually found that one a bit more faithful to the old cartoon.
That wraps up our trek through the 90s. Stay tuned as we next tackle Part 1 of the Direct to Video films.
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