Reviews
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#38: Fantasia 2000 (1999)
.Chris’ Thought:
I enjoyed Fantasia 2000 much more than I did the original, which I think can be attributed to more linear structures. The “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Pomp and Circumstance” sequences didn’t necessarily have “plot”, but they did [...]
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#37: Tarzan (1999)
.Chris’ Thought:
The cinematography was spectacular in Tarzan. I know, you don’t generally think of a Disney movie as having a cinematographer, but the way the camera followed Tarzan as he swung, jumped, and slid through the jungle treetops [...]
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#36: Mulan (1998)
.Chris’ Thought:
Of all the Disney Renaissance films, Mulan is probably my least favorite. It’s fun, it’s just not as polished as the others. I think it’s largely due to the boring score. Other than The Lion King, [...]
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#35: Hercules (1997)
.Chris’ Thought:
Hercules has long been one of my favorite Disney movies. I remember it coming out the summer before high school started and walking around saying, “Who put the glad in gladiator?” My friends would all nod knowingly, [...]
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#34: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
.Andy’s Thought:
This one is tricky. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is now the second film in a row in which our main protagonist does not “get the girl/boy”. Are we angry at Disney for not allowing Esmeralda to see past the Hunchback’s exterior and love him- or do we applaud Disney for conveying the likely truth: that Esmeralda would never (could never?) love Quasimodo more than a friend.
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#33: Pocahontas (1995)
.Chris’ Thought:
Pocahontas and John Smith don’t end up together! I realize this may be historically accurate but Disney is my escape from reality; it doesn’t need to be historically accurate. For me, Disney means romance, laughter, hilarious animals [...]
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#32: The Lion King (1994)
Andy’s Thought:
We’re at the point where each film is a leap forward from the last. For me, it’s details like the use of color gradients in Zazu’s beak and the sweeping camera angles that really shine in The Lion King. And before we go any further, you should know I’ve been holding our new cat Maja up to the skies and humming “The Circle of Life” in preparation of watching this week. I’m glad we’re all up to speed.
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#31: Aladdin (1992)
.Chris’ Thought:
Aladdin continues Disney’s streak of excellent filmmaking. It’s another beautifully animated movie with a fantastic story, a great Middle Eastern-themed score, and hilarious characters. In fact, Aladdin elicited more laughs than any other Disney film to date. [...]
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#30: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Chris’ Thought:
Beauty and the Beast was quite extraordinary. Like The Little Mermaid, it continues to elevate the Disney musical to something spectacular and new. But at the same time that it felt contemporary, Beauty and the Beast [...]
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#29: The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
.Chris’ Thought:
God knows why Disney thought it would be a good idea to make their first animated sequel of The Rescuers. But The Rescuers Down Under is everything that the first film was not: clever, funny, exciting, [...]
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#28: The Little Mermaid (1989)
.Chris’ Thought:
After the classics of the 50s and 60s, Disney spent two decades in mediocrity. And then, like a shot in the dark, comes The Little Mermaid. It barely resembles anything before it. It is a fully [...]
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#27: Oliver & Company (1988)
.Andy’s Thought:
This was the first film we watched in which the main action was a direct reflection of the year it was released. Set (and released) in late-80′s New York, Oliver & Company must have appeared quite contemporary to it’s original audience.
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#26: The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
.Chris’ Thought:
Everyone always talks about how the 70s and 80s were the starkest for Walt Disney Animations Studios creatively, but I must say I’ve really enjoyed all the movies from this era (The Rescuers excluded). It certainly beats [...]
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#25: The Black Cauldron (1985)
.Chris’ Thought:
The Black Cauldron was not your typical Disney movie. The first in the canon to be rated PG, it’s extremely dark and often very scary. I guess the Reagan years took their toll on everyone, including Disney. [...]
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24: The Fox and the Hound (1981)
Chris’ Thought:
The one thing that kept nagging at me during The Fox and the Hound was, “Is Tod (the fox), naïve?” Tod and Copper became friends when they were children, before they knew anything about the world and its [...]
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#23: The Rescuers
.Chris’ Thought:
The Rescuers was like making Christmas Cookies with Splenda – they’ll turn out sweet, but you wish you had the real thing. There was nothing wrong with The Rescuers – it was adorable, clever, short and emotionally [...]
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#22: The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh (1977)
.Andy’s Thoguht:
We watched Winnie the Pooh on the way back from our Thanksgiving Escapades in Richmond, VA. The movie is made up of three shorts, which were cute- but all I could think about was the story where Pooh and Christopher Robin raced twigs under the bridge- and it never came! So I don’t know what I was remembering. Oh well!
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#22: Robin Hood (1973)
Chris’ Thought:
Robin Hood isn’t the first story I would go to for a children’s movie, as the themes are largely dark: a cruel regime, starvation, poverty. But Disney does a beautiful job of slipping in the few moments of [...]
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#20: The Aristocats (1970)
.Chris’ Thought:
The Aristocats was the final film Walt Disney gave the green light for before he died in 1966. I think it’s best he died before the film came out, as the film might’ve killed him anyway. It’s [...]
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#19: The Jungle Book (1967)
Chris’ Thought:
I’d never seen The Jungle Book, so I was excited for this one. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much but I must say I was delightfully surprised. It was simple and sweet, like lemonade on a [...]
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#18: The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Andy’s Thought:
I hadn’t seen The Sword in the Stone since I was a kid and Chris has always said it’s among his favorite Disney movies. Needless to say, we were really excited for this one- and I’m enthused to report that we were not disappointed!
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#17: One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
.Chris’ Thought:
I was exhausted when we watched this film and not in the mood. But all the other films transported me to a magical happy place, so I assumed One Hundred and One Dalmatians would do the same. [...]
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#16: Sleeping Beauty (1959)
.Andy’s Thought:
Sleeping Beauty is easily one of the best Disney movies- perhaps ever. I mean, the animation is breathtakingly vibrant and the score is gorgeously adapted from a Tchaikovsky ballet. I’m not sure what else you need, because I’m set.
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#15: Lady and the Tramp (1955)
.Chris’ Thought:
Lady and the Tramp is the only movie in the Disney canon that is a certifiable romantic comedy. The scene where Lady and Tramp accidentally kiss while sharing a bowl of spaghetti could be straight out of [...]
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#14: Peter Pan (1953)
.Andy’s Thought:
I have a tattoo on my ribcage that reads “to die will be an awfully big adventure,” in most of my dreams I can fly, and I have a stolen jar of pixie dust” used by Cathy Rigby in the staged play of Peter Pan.
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#13: Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Chris’ Thought:
Alice is a new hero; she’s a rebel. During her history lesson she declares, “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.” Like James Dean, she craves excitement, chaos, the unknown. Alice’s journey isn’t from rags to riches or the search for true love; it’s to contain her inner anarchist.
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#12: Cinderella (1950)
Andy’s Thought:
I’m not sure if it was Cinderella or the fact that we’ve just come off this horribly boring series of package films, but this movie felt like a masterpiece. I kid you not, I was in awe.
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#11: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Chris’ Thought:
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.”-Simone Weil
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#10: Melody Time (1948)
Andy’s Thought:
In my mind, Disney is an assumed constant in the childhood memories of most everyone I know. We grew up with this stuff, as did our parents- and presumably their parents too. If you think about, Disney’s been churning out continuously accessible content for the last, how many decades?
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#9: Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Chris’ Thought:
We had to put newspaper down during Fun and Fancy Free because I was so excited that I almost peed my pants. Let me explain.
Fun and Fancy Free’s first of two segments is “Bongo”, an adorable short about a circus bear who escapes into the wild. I will just say it’s one of the strongest shorts to date and I absolutely adored
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#8: Make Mine Music (1946)
Andy’s Thought:
I actually didn’t hate this one! Did I get antsy at times? Sure. Did I leave once or twice to “do the dishes” claiming I could “still hear it”? Maybe. The point is, Make Mine Music didn’t totally suck. And if you got me tipsy off enough Coronas – it would only take one – I might even say it was cute.
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#7: The Three Caballeros (1944)
Chris’ Thought:
Like Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros continues to explore South America, this time Brazil and Mexico. Unlike its predecessor, it has little form, less plot, and an incredibly annoying Mexican rooster named Panchito Pistoles, who could be Speedy Gonzalez and Yosemite Sam’s crack-baby.
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#6: Saludos Amigos (1943)
Andy’s Thought:
I would imagine that the majority of you reading this have never seen Saludos Amigos. To get you up to speed, picture sitting in your middle school history class with the lights out and the projector humming. You’re watching an after-school special with dusty film and a vintage lo-fi soundtrack. The topic, of course, is fabulous South America. That’s what this was.
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#5: Bambi (1942)
Chris’ Thought:
I’m beginning to realize that I know nothing about Disney. There is the assumption nowadays that all Disney movies start with a birth/death, the main plotline is a love story, it all turns out happily ever after, and there’s a princess involved. After watching Disney’s first 5 films, these notions are now dead to me, and “Bambi” is the nail in the coffin
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#4: Dumbo (1941)
Andy’s Thought:
I’m attacking Dumbo head on with an ever-scholastic “What was I supposed to learn?” approach. After all, we promised you elementary intellectualism.
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#3: Fantasia (1940)
Chris’ Thought:
I have the same problem with “Fantasia” that I had when I was 5 – there’s too much talking and many of the sequences fail to satisfy my A.D.D. The reason cartoons like “Tom and Jerry” work is because they are short, funny, and high energy. The sequences in “Fantasia” are set up like cartoons, but read more like the ballet.
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#2: Pinocchio (1940)
Andy’s Thought:
I mean, let me be completely honest: I think Pinocchio is bullshit. The story is a vehicle to teach the importance of right and wrong and how the ultimate of selfless acts has the power to set you free- or become a real boy. But did Pinocchio really deserve to be a real boy? Uh, falsies.
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#1: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Chris’ Thought:
Snow White is as far from Rapunzel in “Tangled” as you can get. Instead of a rebellious teenager she is the perfect student of Walt’s Finishing School for Girls. Snow is a simple, one-faceted character who has no apparent wants or dreams other than finding her Prince. By modern standards she is a Stepford wife in the making and not a…
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The Countdown!
The Disney classics countdown is gonna go down here, under the “Reviews” section. As always, you can find a list of all our posts under the “MAIN tab”.
Remember, we’re watching one of Disney’s 50 animated classics a week, in [...]
Recipes
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Brownie 2000
We are ashamed to post this, as we cooked nothing to make it. But it’s so darn good. And doesn’t everyone associate the taste of frosting out of a can with childhood? The sprinkle make it “fantastical.” Yum.
Ingredients [...]
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Kala’s Twice-fried Plantains
What did Kala probably make Tarzan for Sunday dinner growing up? Bananas. So we decided to make this super easy recipe for twice-fried green plantains. The only tricky thing about this recipe is peeling the plantain. Take a knife and [...]
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Snatch Yo’ Man Eggplant Stacks
If Mulan had made this eggplant stack for the matchmaker, her status as an eligible bride would’ve been elevated several levels. This yummy recipe is compliments of Ming Tsai – a very friendly looking Asian man (that’s basically all we [...]
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Hercules’ Sea Monster
While Hercules was attacking all the fabulous monsters, he speared a huge fish. We thought, what better thing to cook than a whole fish, Greek style? This recipe is super easy, just ask your butcher to butterfly the fish for [...]
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The Festival of Fools Crêpe
During the Festival of Fools there were a ton of street vendors in front of Notre Dame. Whenever Chris has been to Paris, he always ate lunch at these carts, and always got dessert as well. Nothing is as good [...]
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Powhatan’s Pears
The smell of these pears cooking makes you think of the harvest, which in turn made us think of Pocahontas. Not quite the right time of year for this, but it’s a very delicious and healthy dessert (and super easy). [...]
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The Lion’s Meal
We’re going to assume that The Lion King took place in South Africa. As such, here is a beautiful lamb tagine with chickpeas and mango from South Africa. It’s about 30 minutes to prepare, then into the oven. Super easy [...]
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Persian Rice
The best thing about the Middle East in our opinion is the fabulous rice. Here’s a classic Persian Rice recipe that’s also super easy. You can throw in some dried fruits too if you want some sweetness (cranberries, chopped apricots, [...]
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Roast Beast
What better way to honor the Beast than to roast one of his friends? This is a bacon lover’s dream, as the flavor permeates the sauce and the meat. Happy roasting!
Ingredients
-2.2 lb beef loin
-a package of good [...] -
Joanna’s Quiche
Joanna the goanna kept looking for eggs the entire movie. She stole the poacher’s eggs, tried to eat the Golden Eagle’s eggs…she was obsessed. Well we’re confident you will all be equally as obsessed with this quiche. We knew it [...]
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Gratin Under the Sea
We weren’t sure which character to give a shout out to with this recipe. Flounder? Sebastian? Ursula? All would be delicious to eat, so how to choose? We decided to go the egalitarian route and use all of them! This [...]
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Fancy Pigs in Blankets
Seeing Oliver and Dodger go after those greasy New York hot dogs made us crave them. Here’s a recipe for something slightly classier than a corn dog: sausage-pigs in a blanket. These are super yummy and super easy. Make them [...]
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Rat Bait Brie Wheel
Mice and rats love one thing: cheese. And wouldn’t you know it, Chris and Andy do too! We thought we’d share our favorite cheese recipe with you: a baked brie. Every time we make this recipe our guests fight each [...]
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The Cauldron’s Molten Cake
The Black Cauldron was a dark, mystical object that spewed forth smoke and gas and evil. There was only one desert we could make: a molten chocolate cake. This is an easy recipe to make. The only trick is not [...]
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Bessie’s Homemade Ricotta
We were inspired by farm life while watching this film, particularly the scene where the Tod’s owner is milking the cow. We decided to make cheese! We wanted to alternate the spiced cheese with the regular cheese so it would [...]
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Madame Medusa’s Blackened Catfish
Poor little Penny was being held hostage in a swamp on the Louisiana Bayou – not a very friendly place for a 5-year old orphan. But what a great place for food! These blackened catfish sandwiches would brighten any orphan’s [...]
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Pooh’s Granola
Pooh and Rabbit were constantly at odds with each other, so we wanted to unite them with food. Cause that’s we do: unite people with love and food. We thought granola bars were a fantastic way to honor Rabbit’s vegetable [...]
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Bubble & Squeak
Robin Hood is another movie that screams for traditional English fare. We figured we would make the classic English dish, Bubble & Squeak. It’s a winter vegetable pancake alongside roasted meat and gravy. Delicious! And who better to help us [...]
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Fancy Aristocatic Tuna Cakes
What would a pampered French cat eat on a daily basis? Tuna. So we decided to make a crab cake with canned tuna fish instead of crab. Sounds iffy, but trust us when we say these are super yummy! And [...]
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King Louie’s Bread
King Louie’s monkeys are constantly eating bananas, which inspired this week’s recipe. Chris’ mom, the infamous Mama Connie, has the best chocolate chip banana bread recipe you’ll ever see. The key to this recipe is almost rotten bananas. They should [...]
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The Wart’s Bread
For Sword in the Stone we were trying to think of Old English recipes from the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the English have never been famous for their food. But once again, our favorite English cook came to our rescue. Lorraine [...]
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Cruella’s Whoopie Pies
We wanted to make something that was black and white this week in honor of the Dalmatians. We were also craving cream cheese frosting and cookies, two things that seemingly don’t go together. But where there’s a will there’s a [...]
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Briar Rose’s Birthday Cake
When thinking about a recipe for this week, we instantly thought about the birthday cake the fairies make for Briar Rose. And wouldn’t you know it, we had just the recipe! Our favorite new show on the Cooking Channel is [...]
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Tramp’s Spaghetti
We had to make spaghetti and meatballs for Lady and the Tramp. It was required. But instead of using a jar of sauce and some burger meat, we decided to make a more traditional Italian version. The vegetables don’t provide [...]
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Mermaid Tacos
There were so many options for Peter Pan recipes: a childhood comfort food, Lost Boy granola, dog biscuits…but at the end of the day, we followed our stomachs. We were craving fish tacos, so we made fish tacos. Maybe it’s [...]
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The Catepillar’s Mushroom
Alice eats the mushroom, so why shouldn’t we? Not that type of mushroom – get your mind out of the gutter. This recipe is absolutely divine. We made it with wild chanterelle mushrooms, which can be a bit pricey (we [...]
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Carriage Soup
Seeing Cinderella’s carriage trampled by the king’s horses was devastating. But I figured why not make the best out of a bad situation? I took those broken pumpkin pieces and with Ina Garten’s help, I made a truly delicious soup! [...]
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Nana’s “Fried” Drumsticks
Ichabod Crane was caught several times eating entire drumsticks in one bite. The only chicken legs I can ever remember wanting to eat in one bite are my grandmothers. They were her interpretation of fried chicken, only baked in the [...]
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Johnny Applecobbler
Johnny Appleseed planted all those trees, so we’d better put them to good use! And no one knows how to make a cobbler like Ina Garten. I love this recipe – it’s impossible to mess up. Just leave yourself a [...]
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Fun and Fancy Frosted Brownies
We got extremely busy this week. For the 12 of you who read the blog regularly, you’ll realize this recipe is coming out a few days later than normal. We had some friends over for dinner and we needed a [...]
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Make Mine Music was about Americana and 1950s suburbia. Now I’m not a mother, and I’m certainly not old enough to have lived through the 50s, but I do pride myself on my cookies. Like any good housewife I have [...]
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Mexican Mac-n-Cheese
I’ve been making this “Mexican” mac-n-cheese for a long time, and it’s a favorite of my friends. It’s super easy and super tasty. If you want to vary the recipe, change up the type of salsa you use: mango salsa [...]
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Cheese Empanadas
Since a significant portion of the movie took place in Argentina, I thought we could make a traditional Argentinean appetizer from a cookbook I got when I went to Buenos Aires, How Argentina Cooks. We didn’t bother to make the [...]
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Venison with Blueberry Sauce
What? Bambi’s mom was dead anyway, we shouldn’t let the meat go to waste. Here’s a yummy recipe I simplified from my Native-American cookbook, Foods of the Americas.
Ingredients:
-2 pounds venison meat, loin, or rib chops (you can [...] -
The Greatest
ShowPOP!corn on Earth
What food could you imagine eating at the circus other than popcorn? Here’s three types that will help your popcorn soar to the next level!
Ingredients:
One bag buttered popcorn
BBQ
cheddar cheese, grated
season salt
garlic olive oil
rosemary [...] -
Fantasious Ice Cream Shooters
So we wanted to encourage people to indulge while watching “Fantasia” without necessarily getting drunk or high. So, what better way to do that than with dessert! This tri-colored dessert is super easy, and you can make endless combinations depending [...]
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The Great Stromboli
I’ve always known there was an Italian dish called stromboli, but was never sure exactly what it was. After “Pinocchio” I looked it up and realized it was one of my mother’s most popular and in-demand appetizers. She calls it [...]
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The Witch’s Apple
Remember those surprises we mentioned? Well here’s one of them. After Snow White, all I could think about was apples. And that got me to more thinking, which got me to MORE thinking. Now don’t get too excited because this [...]
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Recipes!
You’ll want to check this section each week for some awesome recipes inspired by our Disney classics countdown! Chris has some pretty tasty tricks waiting in his basket of apples- if you know what I mean.
No but for real, [...]
#ISeeDisney
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If a Dream is a Wish…
If a dream is a wish your heart makes, then it would seem I wish for wooden puppet arms.
As you know we watched Cinderella this week, and if you recall, the film opens with the lady of the hour bragging and boasting about her fabulous dreams to her band of mice and birds. First I found it cute, then I found it a lie.
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Becca’s Wedding
As many of you may recall from the abundant number of tweets coming from @yearofthemouse last weekend, Chris and I flew to Chicago for friend Becca’s wedding!
Becca and Chris are old high school pals and we were honored to [...]
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Moved in…and the Seven Bags?
We’re all moved into the new apartment! As we were surveying the chaos of boxes and bags to be moved, we noticed this coincidental nod to the film of the hour. “Snow White and the Seven Bags”? Yeah, you love [...]