Digging for Disney Gems: Audience Reception and the Problem with Plot

Something came to my attention today as I was browsing the Disney Animation Studios filmography. Studying each and every film closely, it became apparent to me that an animated film’s success is no longer dependent on story – that is, if it ever was. There’s no solid way of defining precisely what it is that attracts the attention of critics and cinemagoers over the globe, but it’s become all the more apparent that marketing sways public opinion far more than it ought to. I’m fairly certain that advertising hasn’t always been a crucial factor in determining which films are ‘better’ than the rest, but with recent hits such as Frozen (2013) surpassing the roaring success of The Lion King (1994), I’ve come to the conclusion that something’s amiss here.

The Lion King, Disney, 1994

The problem here, for me, is that there is a distinct lack of focus on quality. The Lion King, for example, is a solid film. It’s a spectacle, an epic of a movie, even if it is, dare I say, a tad overrated. But not only are its visuals ground-breaking, and its characters endearing, and its soundtrack nothing less than glorious; it also happens to maintain an interesting, tense and at times emotional story. And therefore its success is profoundly justified. Frozen, meanwhile, is visually appealing, and a great franchise in terms of hooking the attention of princess-obsessed young girls, but it fumbles majorly in terms of conveying a logical narrative. It simply makes no sense – and yet it’s become their greatest success, not only in recent years, but of all time. You can read more about this in an in-depth analysis here. In light of this, it’s somewhat upsetting that the general public seem to be so easily swayed by marketing ploys. Even the gothic-inspired The Black Cauldron (1985), frequently cited as Disney’s most catastrophic flop, boasts a plot of greater consistency than Frozen.

Frozen, Disney, 2013

Often a film’s disappointing box office returns are understandable. Sleeping Beauty (1959), for example, fails to tie up a few loose ends, and maintains some rather glaring inconsistencies throughout. It’s a real shame, particularly since the film showcases some tremendous detail in the artwork. One might also argue that the film maintains a rather dark and lugubrious tone throughout; one that was perhaps a little unsettling for the average cartoon-viewer of the era. Similar arguments could be raised in support of 1951’s Alice in Wonderland, whose episodic structure and surreal setting perhaps alienated audiences somewhat. These days, however, the focus seems to have shifted entirely from story to visuals and marketability. Frozen might not make any sense, but nobody seems to care. Box office turnouts are one thing, but Frozen’s success has transgressed far beyond that, to the point at which it has become the new face of modern Disney – a fact that is nothing less than a travesty, particularly in light of their former (and subsequent) features, which have, for the most part, maintained something of a high quality.

Sleeping Beauty, Disney, 1959

Evidently, I’m not saying that Disney’s efforts are no longer as impressive as they used to be. In fact, I would proffer that anybody who does argue that is restrained by nostalgic and traditionalist notions of what animation should be and what it should represent. Were we to avoid the temptation to critique Disney’s latest era by comparison with former standout eras, we would see that, with the exception of their greatest financial success, Disney have entered a new ‘Golden Age’, perhaps, one might argue, a Renaissance reprisal. And their success, in most cases, is justified by a good story. For me personally, Frozen represents and will always represent a rather jarring anomaly. The truth is, however, that there are in fact very few Disney animated features that are hugely flawed in terms of narrative. Chances are there are plenty of undiscovered gems that will likely exceed your expectations. But due to some confused and ineffective marketing, these gems require a little more digging to be discovered.