Disney Plus has been out for a couple months now and for Disney fans the service is pretty much an MVP right now. With countless people working from home, kids home from school, and nowhere really to go, people are turning to movies left and right for a source of entertainment. While Disney Plus has a ton of content for Disney fans, there are quite a few animated movies on the service that I feel are very underrated. My hope is by the end of this blog you may be interested in giving a couple of these underrated and sometimes even forgotten movies a shot. Going to try to make this as spoiler free as I can to well, not spoil anything.
Return of Jafar
Okay okay before you leave the page at least hear me out here. When it comes to the straight to VHS/DVD Disney sequels we all know we aren't missing a ton. The animation in all of them is a step (or ten in some cases) back from their original counterparts, they were produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, and the music is also in most cases a step back as well. Despite all of that though, I feel that both Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves are worth a watch if you haven't experienced them before. For this blog though I am just going to focus on Return of Jafar
It's strange to me that the Aladdin television series is still not on Disney Plus while Return of Jafar is. The movie itself serves as a setup for the television series despite it coming out a few months after the show began airing. The plot is pretty simple in that Jafar's lamp is discovered by a bandit. The rest of the movie focuses on Jafar trying to get his revenge on Aladdin, but only in the way he wants. Plot wise that's all I'm going to say. The animation in the movie is basically that of a early to mid nineties television show. It's jerky and the characters (especially Jafar) don't look impressive at all. It's a big step back from the animation of the original. Robin Williams isn't in the movie either as this movie was made during the time where Robin Williams and Disney were not on good terms.
So where's the good and why is it worth a watch? Musically the movie is actually pretty decent. There are no major hits like A Whole New World, but it opens with another verse of Arabian Nights, there is a song that basically taunts Friend Like Me, and Gilbert Gottfried sings. The story is simple, yet I find it to be really fun. Jafar is as menacing as ever and has no problem twisting his "master" to do as he wishes. We also get a lot of character development with Iago that certainly relates to the television series and beyond. Lastly, this was the very first straight to home video sequel Disney made. This is the movie that started the entire craze, so if for nothing else, it's worth watching because of that alone.
The Pixar Duo: Wall-E and A Bug's Life
Wall-E
I can't believe I'm putting Wall-E on a underrated/forgotten list. Pixar is a wonderful animation studio is it not? Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Brave, Coco, Cars, Up, Inside Out, The Incredibles, and others are always brought up when I hear people talking or see people writing about Pixar. Of course not every movie is made equal and over the past couple of years I've noticed a drop off on Wall-E being mentioned up there with these other Pixar monster franchises. Even my last trip to Walt Disney World had me only finding a Wall-E backpack, not a speck of other merchandise outside of pins to be seen.
The movie, while featuring very little talking is an incredible look into a future where Earth is dead and the survivors are all living on a massive spaceship until the Earth is able to fix itself. The movie showcases a corporation basically running the human race, the impact of humans on the planet itself, and even showcased our ever growing reliance on easy to use technology. Hey in 2008 a lot of what we have now wasn't even really thought of as a possibility of a hold in your hand device, but here we are. Anyway, the plot focuses on one little robot's journey from Earth to the cosmos in pursuit of love and adventure. Again, no spoilers here so to learn the rest you have to watch.
When the movie debuted in 2008, Pixar again knocked it out of the park with the animation as they seem to do each and every time they make a movie. The soundtrack is beautiful and any lyrics that accompany any of the songs are played via a radio or some other device. The characters do not sing at all. Despite that though what few lyrics their are manage to make a big impact on the scene they're heard in. So why is this movie underrated in my eyes? I feel like it's a mixed bag of reasons. For one, there is certainly an agenda about the environment so I'm sure some parents don't show their kids the movie for that reason alone. Another is that it isn't the best of kid movies. There are parts of the movie that are slower and there isn't any explosive characters like a Buzz Lightyear or Dory to deliver some incredibly memorable lines. Again, speech in general is kept to a minimum outside of the human characters in the movie. But hey, don't let those feelings bring you down. Wall-E is an incredible ride and kind of fits in with the current state of the world. After all, what's more isolating than being stuck on a ship in space?
A Bug's Life
The second Pixar movie on my list is A Bug's Life. The second Pixar movie has the unfortunate privilege of being sandwiched between Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Oh yeah and that movie got followed by Monsters Inc.. The writing is kind of on the wall as to why I feel this movie is underrated. It is, I admit, overshadowed by what it was surrounded by, but that is a story for another time. So why is A Bug's Life worth a watch. Let me start off with one word. Uniqueness.
Early Pixar movies had a very unique theme about them. Shrinking down to the size of bugs or toys and seeing the world from their eyes. While it was fun in Toy Story it is incredibly cool to see that perspective in A Bug's Life. Think about it. Without me spoiling anything in the movie, just picture how massive the world must be to an ant. How massive a single drop of rain must be. How incredibly large a grasshopper must be. How monstrous a bird (even a tiny one to us) must be. Pixar nails all of that in this movie. That unique theme throughout the movie is so fun to experience and when I was a kid, it really made me think about what bugs were thinking and actually doing.
Yes, the visuals are dated now and look really computer generated, but the same can be said for Toy Story and that still gets praise for the same thing that A Bug's Life is criticized for. The story however is so good and entertaining. The only problem is I can't really find a way to preview it without spoiling much, but I'll try. The plot focuses on a colony of ants (one in particular) trying to protect themselves from a gang of insects that threatens to destroy their way of life. I think that was an okay thing to type... Sorry if too spoilerish... Moving on. The music in the movie is respectable. There is no stand out song at all though. I can't actually think of any lyrics being sung in the movie at all which was a departure from Toy Story.
So why is this movie seemingly always left out of the discussion regarding Pixar movies? I'm honestly not sure. I'm sure a part of it was the massive controversy that took place between itself and Dreamworks own Antz that was released just two months before it. There was a ton of fighting between the top guns of both companies with Disney/Pixar believing that Dreamworks stole the idea for A Bugs Life. Yet another story for another time. Beyond that I just cannot figure out why the movie has fallen out of favor like it has. The characters are great, the plot develops great, and the movie looks great for it's time. Really I think it does come down to what was around it. Toy Story has gone on and become Pixar's flagship movie series and that is evident just by the fact that it is the only Pixar series to get a fourth movie. A Bug's Life didn't get the love and attention from Disney/Pixar as just a year later Toy Story 2 would release and Toy Story would once again be the major focus on the company. Leaving the ants in the dust.
So do me a favor, if you haven't done so, check this movie out. It is a lot of fun to watch and Pixar did an incredible job bringing the world of insects to life in a almost human way. Unlike Wall-E I can't really see why kids wouldn't enjoy this movie from start to finish. Just a tiny word of caution that there is a few moments of peril towards the end. By that I mean insect peril. Nothing that would be scary to us, but man for an ant? Yeesh!
The Rescuers Down Under
Fun fact. There was a movie between The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Sadly though many people have never heard of it. The Rescuers Down Under had the very unfortunate privilege of going head to head with Home Alone in theaters. You can guess which one won that fight considering it is one of the most beloved holiday movies of all time. Spoiler: it was not The Rescuers Down Under. When the writing appeared on the wall that this movie was not going to do well Disney kind of dropped it like a hot rock and began focusing on Beauty and the Beast.
Typically Disney sequels do not do as well as the originals, but I do not by any means think that applies to this movie. I feel that this movie is hands down better than The Rescuers in almost every way. The characters are better, the animation is light years better (the flight sequences in this movie are still incredible to watch), the music is better, and while much closer, I feel the plot is better as well.
The story centers around a young boy trying to protect an eagle. He eventually winds up in trouble himself and it is up to his rescuers to save him. The characters are all great. Every character has a personality and many of them are quite funny as well. Though one literally steals the movie in my mind. If nothing else watch it for this one character. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out which one I'm talking about. While none of the original characters outside of those of the Rescue Aid Society return from the original movie, the new ones more than fill that gap and surpass them in every way.
I mentioned the flight sequences a couple paragraphs ago. This movie features several scenes of our characters flying on the back of a majestic animal. These scenes are mind blowing as they were the first of their kind in a Disney movie. In fact, it is this movie, not Beauty and the Beast that was the first to be done in a digital environment as opposed to being all hand drawn. This makes nearly every scene look so fresh in comparison to anything that had come before. It's a shame it didn't get the attention it deserved. I guess that could be due to the fact that Disney didn't advertise it much at all, which to me is quite surprising.
So why is the movie underrated in my eyes? It's simple. It ran into a monster called Home Alone. As soon as Disney dropped the support for it it vanished. It quietly got released on home video and has never been celebrated as part of the Disney Renaissance that started with The Little Mermaid. That said anyone who I've talked to about this movie has either never seen it or loved it. I personally do not know anyone who dislikes this movie. I know people who straight up do not like The Rescuers, but thoroughly enjoy this movie. That is why I think it is underrated/forgotten. It's popular with anyone who has seen it, but to those who haven't, many don't even realize it exists and that is a shame.
So check this movie out. I'm sure you and your family will have quite a few laughs, meet some incredible characters, and wonder why you haven't seen this movie before. So there you have it. Four movies that are worth checking out on Disney Plus during these rough times. I tried to keep this as spoiler free as I could so I apologize if it was too much or not enough to sway you into watching. Thank you all as always for reading and stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon, but first... a surprise word from the closed Disney's Hollywood Studios (not really) which will hopefully bring a smile to your face.
Miss the Disney Parks??? Wish you could just sit down on Slinky Dog Dash and become overwhelmed with that childhood nostalgia for all things Toy Story? Wish you could feel those launches and the wind in your hair? Well you almost can! Enjoy this ride along of Slinky Dog Dash! It's the closest thing you can get to really riding the ride while the park is closed!
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