The Disney era of the 70s and 80s...underrated?

[Warrior Kitana]

I hear many critics call the 70s and 80s (specificaly after Walt's death) a dark age for Disney movies. Prior to 1989's The Little Mermaid, most disney movies made during the 70s and 80s recieve very little recognition, merit, and are considered mediocre and forgettable. Many cite the the animation was not great and the storylines fell flat. Many people consider 1985's The Black Cauldron, the black sheep of Disney and I've heard that Disney did all but completely disown the movie for several years. Were these movies really that awful?

Personally, I disagree. While some of these movies do not stand up against the test of time or as memorable as classics before it such as "Lady and the Tramp", "Bambi", "Cinderella", or "Fantasia", nor do they compare to the ones release afterwards such as greats like "The Lion King", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" or "The Little Mermaid", I didn't feel they were plain awful. Many of them I even enjoyed and consider some of my favorites. "The Fox and the Hound" is one example, seeing as the movie deals with friendship (and the tests of friendship), subtle prejudice, and a great message. I also enjoyed "The Great Mouse Detective" and "The Rescuers" were also entertaining.

So I ask (as the title of the thread says) do you consider animated movies released from the 70s up to 1989's The Little Mermaid underrated and feel that they deserve more praise and recognition than they get. Or do you feel that they were not as awful as fans say.

[Prism]

The Disney era of the 70's and 80's are underrated. So they weren't flashy,showstopping musicals so what? They still kept to the heart and sentiment of Disney. And did it far better then this era at least.

[Silly McGooses]

The Great Mouse Detecitive is one of my favorite Disney flicks.

[fanboy]

I like the Great Mouse Detective, but the Fox and the Hound is for sure not one of my favorites, neither the Blacl Cauldron

[Crash]

Uummmm...I've got to say no, they're not underrated. Growing up, my family had quite the collection of Disney Movies, (including Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which kids today have apparently never even heard of) and the ones you mentioned just weren't part of it. And we really didn't miss 'em much.

That being said, I have nothing particularly bad to say about any of the aforementioned movies, and I must admit that Oliver and Company will always have a special place in my heart.

[Yamwacky]

I love "The Great Mouse Detective", and "The Little Mermaid" does not get enough recognition. It was the turning point in Disney animated features, ushering in the 2nd golden era for the studio. Even at the time, LM was a low-budget (relatively) film, coming on the heels of Disney's lesser efforts. The music's great, the story works, it's a lot of fun. And there's still some innocence- before Disney began gunning for the "Disney Formula" and brought us the likes of "Hunchback" and the other disappointments. While I love "The Lion King", it was one of the worst things to happen to animation- setting studio expectation way too high for features that followed. Everything had to be a mega-hit, grossing hundreds of millions of dollars. Fortunately Pixar was able to keep the idea of simple story telling with strong characters alive, without all the mindless executive meddling destorying the story.

[Fan of Sponge]

The animation industry as a whole fell into disuse as a median in the 70's and 80's. With that, many cartoons along with Disney aren't that respected during this time. Much of the animation technology in 1930's was almost the same in the 70's. It wasn't truely the advancement of computers starting with Tron really changed the reputation of many animation companies which led to a new direction of fresh blood into the industry. The only few Disney cartoons I can only respect during this time has to be Tron with the groundbreaking computer technology, The Black Cauldon the last classic-era Disney movies and entry into a much larger market they can take on, The Great Mouse Detective with groundbreaking aid of computers in some parts of the film, and Oliver and Company which helped revived the animated musicals for Disney which had its climax at The Lion King.

[Kagetsu]

For me obviously 70's and 80 were a dead zone. Except for the classics which are all over the house on vhs, my Disney liking began with Little Mermaid. Though even beyond that was some loosers I just didn't like that others do. Lion King was alright but nothing spectacular and I didn't like Beauty and the Beast.

[Figaro]

I definitely think the 70s-80s Disney films are underrated. So they may not have broken new ground. I personally don't care if a film is groundbreaking or not as long as I find it entertaining. I think Robin Hood is just plain feel-good entertainment; The Rescuers is *beautifully* done; The Fox and the Hound is one of contemporary Disney's very best films; The Black Cauldron is not a perfect film, but at least it's different. Great Mouse Detective and Oliver & Company *were* groundbreaking for their use of the computer, but they're still quite entertaining.

I also think The Rescuers Down Under is underrated. The scene in the beginning where Marahute and Cody go flying is one of my favorite scenes in any animated film.

By thy side,

Figaro

[mg_winxclub]

There's NO way that can be underrated. Not a chance! Look at ALL the Disney Princess collection merchandise out there. It's freaking everywhere on everything for every season in every major retailer! Without the Disney Princess collection, what would Disney have out there besides Pooh? There's not much Mickey Mouse anymore since the Disney Princesses took over, and what about Tinkerbell? Ever since Winx Club came out two years ago, Tinkerbell merchandise exploded immediately almost as much as the Disney Princess collection, with Disney flooding the market with as much as they could as fast as they could. You can't walk 20 feet in any direction in a Wal*Mart store without seeing some Disney Princess merchandise somewhere! So once again, there's no way the Disney era of the 70's and 80's can be underrated right now.

[Teknomancer]

Wasn't the 70's the era when no Donald Duck cartoon shorts were made?

Anyway, regarding animated movies, I don't think they're underrated, I just think the movies weren't as great as their peers.

[Skeeter]

There's NO way that can be underrated. Not a chance! Look at ALL the Disney Princess collection merchandise out there. It's freaking everywhere on everything for every season in every major retailer! Without the Disney Princess collection, what would Disney have out there besides Pooh? There's not much Mickey Mouse anymore since the Disney Princesses took over, and what about Tinkerbell? Ever since Winx Club came out two years ago, Tinkerbell merchandise exploded immediately almost as much as the Disney Princess collection, with Disney flooding the market with as much as they could as fast as they could. You can't walk 20 feet in any direction in a Wal*Mart store without seeing some Disney Princess merchandise somewhere! So once again, there's no way the Disney era of the 70's and 80's can be underrated right now.

What does the Disney Princess collection have to do with Disney films from the 70's and 80's? Ariel is the only Princess from that era to be included in the collection, and she came in at the tail (pardon the pun) end of the 80s. All the other Princess in that collection are either from before (Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora) or after (Belle and Jasmine) that twenty year span. In fact, Ariel could probably be considered part of the "Second Generation" Princesses given her popularity during the early 90s with her animated series.

The only other character who could concievably be a part of the Collection, Black Cauldron's Princess Eilonwy, isn't because a) of how badly it did when it was first released and b) as a result, BC wasn't widely known until it was re-released in the late 90s. And even then, Eilonwy hasn't become as popular as Cinderella, Belle or Ariel (which is a shame, IMO), which means she isn't marketable.

-Kim

[Luna]

I would say that the 70's and 80's Disney animated films are underrated.....I ended up liking most of the ones I've seen,though in many cases,I didn't get to see them until I was a teenager,and they came to video(I was born in June of '79)....I do remember seeing The Great Mouse Detective,Oliver and Co,and The Little Mermaid when they first came out (and I saw The Rescuers when it was re-released in theaters...

Out of this time period,The Little Mermaid is my favorite film(it's one of my favorite movies,period),though I also really liked Oliver and Co.,The Fox and the Hound,The Rescuers(though IMO,the sequel's much better),and The Aristocats...

[Dr. Daedalus]

Robin Hood was pretty good. [/rap] The Great Mouse Detective is on my to-watch list.

[Moto Pete]

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d40/petenehra/WFRR.jpg Don't forget Roger Rabbit

[CookieS]

Let me ask you this...did any of those Disney films have big openings? I grew up in the 80's and recall seeing "Oliver and Co." in the theaters. I think what makes or breaks a Disney cartoon is if it is a musical or not. "The Little Mermaid" had a lot of songs that people would sing along with. I don't think "The Black Cauldron" had songs, did it?

As far as memory rentention goes, I think if you can recall a song or a beat from a film, it goes a lot longer than trying to remember the plot.

[Baltofan]

I agree that the 70's and 80's Disney are underrated too!

[Donald Duck 12]

I didn't feel they were plain awful.

Of course they weren't plain awful. I think that what people mean when they talk about the movies from this time is that they didn't go above and beyond. Robin Hood, Rescuers, Great Mouse Detective, and such were good films they just didn't make a huge stamp. There really is nothing wrong with them, but the fact is that that was what held them back. Where as compared to the era that followed (Little Mermaid-Hunchback) did go above and beyond.

Still the Aristocats, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Fox and the Hound are undeniable classics.