MovieChat Forums > The Great Mouse Detective (1986) Discussion > The Disney Renaissance??

The Disney Renaissance??

posted 14 years ago by CosmosX9
18 replies | jump to latest

Okay, so you know how many people here keep on stating that "The Little Mermaid" began an "era" called the Disney Renaissance in 1989, because of it's "box-office success", and that it brought the glory days of Disney back?

Well, I like "The Little Mermaid" and all, but in my opinion I think what REALLY started the Disney Renaissance were "The Great Mouse Detective", and "Oliver & Company." Although they weren't exactly box-office champs, they were still great films in comparison to the 70's Disney films (which were okay, but not good enough). For me, it's not about how "financially" successful a Disney movie is, to determine its Renaissance, it just depends on how WELL MADE the story is. I thought "The Great Mouse Detective" and "Oliver & Co." had EXCELLENT storytelling and were very original (for Disney at least)!

What do you think began that period?

[–] nickm2 14 years ago

Here's a trivia point RE: GMD--it's modest success at the boxoffice encouraged Disney to move forward with 'The Little Mermaid'....

NM

[–] whatsitsgalore 14 years ago

So true. If GMD had flopped it would've spelt the end of Disney animated features.

But the movie turned a profit, and the studio went on.

Basil of Baker Street
http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/basil/bakerst.html

[–] brinatello_j78 14 years ago

I personally felt the 'Renaissance' term came about with The Little Mermaid because it was the return of the 'princess' and 'fairy tale' type movies that Disney was known for making. The last movie that involved a princess was Sleeping Beauty (1959), approximately thirty years before Ariel's on-screen debut. The Renaissance term means 'rebirth' as everyone knows, so it's like the 'rebirth' of how Walt used to make films back in the day with that fantasy-like quality.

The movies in-between Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid told some great and interesting stories, none of which involved a princess (although, Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron is a princess, yet, she's never shown with the other girls in the typical Disney princess collages). But, yes, it's true The Great Mouse Detective DID help Disney realize they were going in the right direction to move forward and keep the animation studio open, continuing with another small but fun romp with Oliver and Company and THEN releasing The Little Mermaid, or the start of making more princess films.

[–] whatsitsgalore 14 years ago

Mermaid could also be called the rebirth of the Broadway-style musical, though one might argue that Oliver fits that description.

Basil of Baker Street
http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/basil/bakerst.html

[–] brinatello_j78 14 years ago

I remember my dad took my sister and I to see Oliver but dropped us off at the theater with TLM. It was football season. ;p I thoroughly enjoyed both; it was good times back then to go to a movie and be entertained by Disney. Oliver would definitely make a good musical when it's already one, well, like "Oliver Twist." Incidentally, Nancy was played by Shani Wallis in the movie version. She was the voice of the Lady Mouse from GMD. :D

[–] mikekaraoke23 14 years ago

yea i feel it was BGMD was disney film that got them back on track and was populer at the box office and in rentals so was Oliver and Company.Think it was meant to be brought back the old style Disney musical style

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[–] shadrachs 14 years ago

I maintain that Who Framed Roger Rabbit was what kicked off the Disney Renaissance.

Disney produced several great films in the 70's and 80's, this one being one of them, but I don't feel like they truly stepped into a new era until Roger Rabbit/Little Mermaid. Also, I get why you don't take their gross revenue into consideration, but still... The success of anything they'd done for ages couldn't even compare to that of Roger Rabbit and The Little Mermaid

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] whatsitsgalore 14 years ago

This may have been mentioned before, but the plan was to shut down feature animation if Great Mouse Detective failed commercially.

It made a profit, and feature animation continued.

Basil of Baker Street
http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/basil/bakerst.html

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[–] BorneAgain 13 years ago

The Renaissance is to be fair a term somewhat applied retroactively. At the time it certainly seemed like GMD, O&C, and TLM were part of a larger trend of progress in the Disney canon. Its only the fact that the company itself hasn't really done much to promote or merchandise Great Mouse Detective or Oliver and Company in the years since that seems to push them into the Disney Dark Age as far as history.

[–] norman-dostal 9 years ago

It would be impossible for aristocrats to have made more than 10 million in France back in the 70s. That's only a couple hundred theaters max.

[–] brinatello_j78 12 years ago

Part of me would really like to know what that would be like, with no Disney around.

When you mentioned that, I suddenly had visions of the original Disneyland park going into ruins because of the animation department shutting down. Imagine no one visiting the park and it becomes a desolate shell of an existence. Kind of like that Wonderland in Beijing, China. Makes me shudder just thinking about it. No, I need to stop thinking it. Disneyland will never close, not as long as we're all around. Walt's original park needs to stay operational for every new generation to come!

Getting back to TGMD, I found a whole article explaining how Basil saved the animation studio. It even mentions my fansite. :)

http://www.mouseplanet.com/9534/How_Basil_Saved_Disney_Feature_Animati on_Part_One

[–] StarskyandChinaHutch 12 years ago

Oliver & Co. was like 100 steps back, so how about hell no.

Who busts the Crimebusters?

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