Writing in the Disney Renaissance

More than its beautiful animation and fantastic music, what made the Disney Renaissance great was the quality screenwriting. These movies built on the traditional stories of classic Disney while also expanding on the themes and characters dramatically. This video analyzes how Disney pushed their writing in the Renaissance, how the era fell apart, and the influence of the era on modern Disney.

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[googlymoogly]

I would like to put that Ariel didn’t sell her voice for a man she was already fascinated with the human world Eric was just the cherry on top.

[Facio_]

can you really say ariel sold her voice for eric tho? the point of the i want song is to establish her motivations, and she sang it before meeting eric. she didn’t even mentions love in her song.
even before meeting eric in the song she says “what would i pay to stay a day warm on the sand?” well, her soul.

[freedom]

Disney reinassance is a spoil of the public eye, we didn't know how good we got it from them, and after it ended we felt the pain of very poor decisions in the mid 2000s

[corbinmarkey]

*subtly slides this video onto Bob Iger's desk*

[emilyrose]

- the protagonists (choices) lead the plot
- want vs need
- evil sometimes more personal
- personal identity

[AMY]

Despite its problems I think hunchback is one of the best films Disney has made

[jenniferschillig]

You know, your comments on Tarzan and the relationship between hero and villain got me to thinking--Disney really missed an opportunity. In the original novel, William Cecil Clayton was not a villain, but was a cousin of John Clayton, Earl of Greystoke, aka Tarzan. He was also interested in Jane's hand, getting engaged to her although Tarzan eventually won out in the course of several novels. They could have kept this angle in while still keeping him a villain and made his motivation jealousy instead--he's always aspired to the title of Earl of Greystoke and the love of Jane Porter, and now this man is stepping in to grab away both. Instead, they made him a one-dimensional greedy villain only out for money.

[stagelinedpro]

I'd argue that Maleficent's motivation goes beyond then just "not being invited to a party". Sure she wasn't invited but that's the reason why she cursed the princess, it's because the three good fairies were invited by the King and Queen aka her enemies. I think that is what offended her, the king and queen breaking bread with enemies is a sign they took a side in their war, so she punishes them accordingly.

[ThekingEC]

I just wanted to tell you that I've just binged your entire channel. First of all BRILLIANT work Daniel! You have some of the best video's on youtube regarding gangster films. Secondly, you've spoken about great performances and acting in some of your videos and I would love to see you make video on your all time standout performances whilst discussing the acting in more detail perhaps. Again fantastic work and I'm certain this channel will be one of the biggest in this genre in no time. All the best, Luke. Keep killing it.

[teddyfurstman]

Disney is my fave Animation Studio and I do love their Handdrawn films. The Renaissance is the perfect era for Disney Animation.

[stuckinquarantine]

Hunchback is my favorite Disney movie, its an unpopular opinion, but its mine

[filmthoughtproject]

Incredibly interesting as always. It would be interesting to hear your take on the ‘Pixar era’ that came shortly after the Disney renaissance and how that changed narratives too.

[mitchbray]

To me, Hercules was the best movie of the Renassiance era. I loved is' exploration of what makes a hero and so, I think it's more structured than what you give it credit for. And the Tarzan story as a great adventure story. . Those two aspects are what I love about those stories.

[speedracer]

Personally, I think Hercules' arc is well-defined. He initially thinks that being a hero is about gaining attention and fans, but comes to learn the true meaning of it through his relationship with Meg. That being said, I do understand your point about it having elements that don't work together. I enjoy the film as is, but if you watch it with the same expectations you had with The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, you will be disappointed.

[MARDELROONEY]

i've just discovered this channel and i adore it. maybe the best film channels i've come across in a while

[zevburrows]

Really terrific analysis here. Forgive me for bumping a 2 year-old video, but I actually want to make a connection between this video here and your recent eye-opening video "No, Superhero Movies are NOT like Westerns". It's difficult in this day and age to think of the Walt Disney Company ever being an underdog, but that's essentially how they started in the 1920s and 1930s (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was labeled 'Disney's Folly' in Hollywood before its release, and way before Eisenstein himself called it the greatest film ever made), and when you flash forward to the decade and a half prior to the Renaissance, that's what they were again: the underdog.

It's also really easy to underestimate to the influence of Howard Ashman, the lyricist (and essentially storyteller) of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (Aladdin had his work completed by another lyricist after his death mid-way through production). I often draw comparisons between him and Stephen Sondheim, because his lyric writing was nearly as endlessly witty, funny, and inventive as Sondheim's. But perhaps more important to note is that Ashman was to the animators of the Renaissance films what Walt Disney himself was to the animators of the Golden Age films (and there are many people involved in the production of these films, including Walt's nephew Roy, who would compare him to Walt): he endlessly challenged and educated the animation studio about what it could be and what kind of work they were capable of producing, and at the same time sold them on the idea that animation and musical theatre were made for one another. For example, there was a point where Jeffrey Katzenberg suggested that they cut "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Ashman literally said "over my dead body, I'll strangle you." And he was right. If that "I Want" song had been gutted, it would have killed the connection to Ariel, and likely killed people's connection to the movie itself (I've heard a rumor that the animation studio would have closed were the movie not a success, and I'd be willing to bet that if the song was cut, that rumor would have been a reality).

He might have had a bit of a contentious personality to deal with, but he also had a motivation and force that we haven't seen from a single individual at Disney Animation since. When he died in 1991, there was no one to fill his shoes. No one had the kind of mind, artistic vision, and seemingly endless bag of musical theatre tricks that could be applied to animation as he had (I would have no problem saying that the beginning of the end for the Disney Renaissance was Ashman's death; The Lion King is really the curious exception to the rule). Without Ashman, not only would Disney have never made these films, but they would not have made the amounts of money that they do today, to say nothing of the fact that the works are endlessly re-purposed for Broadway, live action remakes, etc.

In your Superhero/Western video, what I found most interesting were the graphs that depicted the several different studios having influence over the box office when it came to those two genres. Obviously, Disney has the strongest threshold over the superhero box office today, but that wasn't always the case. Around the time of Tim Burton's Batman, Disney released The Rocketeer, and that was a flop at the box office, and their attempts at superhero movies prior to their owning of Marvel are almost not even worth bringing up. But thanks to the money that these animated musicals were bringing in (and continuing to do so, thanks to their longevity on home video and Broadway), and to the fact that the public was growing tired of the formula that came with those films, they could afford to re-purpose the money into live-action filmmaking, specifically for superhero films (and for a time, other franchises they acquired or previously owned through the theme parks like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Chronicles of Narnia). The lesson Disney learned long ago is that if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em. Their distribution deal with Pixar obviously turned into them purchasing Pixar outright, and eventually lead to purchasing Marvel, Lucasfilm, Fox, etc. As you say, the homogenization and tyranny of Disney at the box office (in particular through Superhero and Marvel) has nothing to do with the popularity of westerns.

And I don't think any of it would have happened were it not for the efforts of Howard Ashman, and his lyrics still continue to make the company billions of dollars. However, I don't think that he would have wanted any of this to happen, and I think it's unfair to add this to his legacy. He's a far greater artistic figure than practically anyone else who has set foot in the studio since, and if he were alive today, would likely still be pushing and challenging artists to create works that go above and beyond "acceptable", which seems to be the bar that Disney wants to meet today.

[fcv]

Ariel did have an arch. Her want is to become human and to be with Eric. Her need is to restore her relationship with her dad. It's not very developed because Triton is the one who learns the big lesson of the movie, "children got to be free to live their own lives", quoting Sebastian. But overall, Ariel did come out with the realisation of how much her dad loved her, and the final hug between Triton and Ariel shows they finally understand each other.

[Wawagirl]

Phew! How does this channel not have more views? This is fantastic work!

[michaelmanning]

The incredibly singable scores of the renaissance sure helped a lot. They harkened back to the 60's Disney animations of my youth. As a child, family vacations featured a cassette tape of "The Jungle Book" to which we all sang along. As a father of two young girls, we travelled with a CD of current Disney hits from the renaissance movies.

[Jingles]

Great Video, would love to see your opinions on the Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Lilo & Stitch, and the Emperor's New Groove.