Best. Movies. Ever.
Sept. 15, 2002

Disney's seemingly endless library of animated movies reads like a who's who of the cartoon industry.  From Beauty and the Beast to Peter Pan, to Aladdin and Dumbo.  There's The Jungle Book, The Rescuers, Pinnochio and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.  Ha, I kid about the last one. But seriously, you forget about more Disney hits than other studios have ever had.

Picking a favorite can be tough. And since "The Weekly Buzz" never runs from difficult situations, I've come here to list my top three favorite animated Disney movies.  And afterward, all of you crazy kids can meet me in the forums to praise my brilliance or rip me a new one.  It'll probably be the latter, but whattya gonna do? Oh yeah, and this is a purists list, damn it, which means there will be no Monsters Inc. or Toy Story.

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RUNNERS UP: Lilo & Stitch, Mulan, Tarzan, Aladdin
I reluctantly left Lilo & Stitch off the list because the movie is so new.  It has yet to stand the test of time for me.  I've only seen it once so can't rightfully put it on my list.  But in the future, who knows? Lilo even had a memorable song, something many newer Disney flicks lack. (Sing it with me: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Hawaiian roller coaster ride.) Mulan and Tarzan are two modern-day Disney classics, but there's simply not enough oomph there for me to get behind them.  I watched both movies a long time ago, I enjoyed them immensely, but neither was memorable. As for Aladdin, I love it, but not more than the three listed below. The movie came extremely close to being No. 3, and Aladdin probably would have been, but the bastardization of the franchise at my peak TV-viewing age left me jaded.  The television series, the two sequels, it all devalued how epic the original movie truly was—and is..

THREE - The Jungle Book
After much personal debate, and by that I mean five minutes of thinking, I knew The Jungle Book was worthy of losing out to two other movies as my best ever. As a snot-nosed little kid, I read The Jungle Book book (eh ...) a bunch of times before seeing the movie. Wow, Shere Khan was a real bad ass, wasn't he? The Jungle Book had it all: A likable sidekick in Baloo, an evil villan you could really buy into and the unforgettable "Bear Necessities" tune.

TWO - The Lion King
Disney was in its prime in the early 1990s. That says a lot, considering Dumbo, Peter Pan, Pinnochio, Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmations, Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were all under its belt.  Yeah, some of those movies derived from sure-fire, ready-made tales, but, uh ... shut up. When the studio released The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, then The Lion King all in a row, people realized we were in a golden age.  Of course, it all went to crap once Pocahontas released, but that's another story.

The Lion King, to me, is the holy grail of Disney's greatness.  There's not much to say about the movie that hasn't been said.  But I will mention that the sidekicks were great (although, like Aladdin, the franchise-bastardization tarnished Pumbaa and Timon), the songs were memorable and the evil villain was EVIL.  In fact, Scar could even kick Shere Khan's butt. Hey, now that I think of The Jungle Book, the reasons I listed for liking that movie are the same reasons I listed for liking this one.  Damn you, Disney, for being formulaic sons of guns.

ONE - The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
If you actually believed I chose a cookie-cutter sequel as my favorite Disney flick of all time, go take a shower and try to wash the stupid off of you, you dirty, dirty child.

THE REAL ONE - The Fox and the Hound
Some of you may think I'm joking again, but I'm not. The little talked-about movie, The Fox and the Hound gets my pick for best ever. I could watch this bad boy once a month for the rest of my life and not get tired of it, although admittedlty, I haven't seen it in years.

The Fox and the Hound is the story of two best friends, who in their ignorant youth, vow to stay that way forever.  Of course, since one is a fox and the other is a dog who hunts, they obviously run into problems when they get older. Since I'm as nostalgic as they come, this movie always hit close to home for me. I can still quote some of it directly:

"Copper, you're my very best friend."

"And you're mine, too, Todd."

"And we'll always be friends ... forever."

"Yeah ... forever."

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Well, that's it for this week. I hope the above list doesn't make you shake your head in disgust.  And if it does, and you disagree with it, remember, you're probably wrong.