Coming off of one of the most unproductive days at work, I felt a need to correct a wrong that had been plaguing my mind for hours now. I haven't had such a strong call to action, so strong I could not wait to sleep on it to remedy such misinformation. My buddy Brandon posted a Disney Bracket. Yes, the bracket that is destroying childhoods and friendships. Created by Sir Jolley Rancher, Destroyer of Worlds, never has a bracket sparked so many opinions, none in support, a few controversial in nature, but with so much room for correction, I felt compelled to fix this right away.The first problem with the original bracket was the bracket itself. The bids to this bracket felt haphazard and irresponsible. The arrangement, distribution and seeding was done so careless, the damage to psyche of older millennials is unfathomable. The title of the bracket is "Disney Pixar." Since both are referred to in the streets are "Disney" I won't bother establishing the distinction between both studios.
The criteria for making this bracket is not explained anywhere, so I will make some assumptions of my own and explain the logic behind it. I was born in 1985. For me, the first "Disney Princess" movie I was aware of was the "Little Mermaid." The very first Disney movie I had any sort of conscience during was "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." Seeing that none of these live action movies made the bracket, I assumed that live action movies were excluded. This means that a lot of childhood classics failed to make the cut. Should another bracket be made to figure out the best Disney live action film? Or should we just assume that D2 wins it by unanimous decision? Sorority girls nationwide may be up in arms to make such a bold statement that snubs "Hocus Pocus." What about Christmas classics like the "Santa Clauses?" What about other classics like "Rocketman?" "Cool Runnings?" "Remember the Titans?"
Too many to include them all. As of 2017, there are 531 Disney movies. Many of those, fly under the radar, and a lot of movies aren't necessary following the classic Disney recipe, like "The Three Musketeers."
Having said all that, here's my criteria to include movies in this ultimate bracket. The constraints are the following. Animated films; that means cartoon or CGI. From 1990 to the present day, with the exception of "The Little Mermaid" (1989). High grossing sequels will be considered, like Toy Story 2 and 3, but not Pocahontas 2, for example. I will do my best to limit one film per release year, with certain exceptions like "Pocahontas" and "A Bug's Life" (both 1998). In true bracket form, the bids will be capped at 32, and divided by categories to divide like movies into the different regions.
Here are the top 32 Disney movies based on the constraints mentioned above. This wasn't easy but I believe that a consensus can at least be reached on which movies should be excluded, and which should go on to compete in this most glorious of brackets.
1. The Little Mermaid (1989)
2. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
3. Aladdin (1992)
4. Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
5. Lion King (1994)
6. Pocahontas (1995)
7. Toy Story (1995)
8. Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
9. Hercules (1997)
10. Mulan (1998)
11. A Bug's Life (1998)
12. Tarzan (1999)
13. Toy Story 2 (1999)
14. Monsters Inc (2001)
15. Lilo and Stitch (2002)
16. Finding Nemo (2003)
17. The Incredibles (2004)
18. Cars (2006)
19. Ratatouille (2007)
20. Bolt (2008)
21. Wall-E (2008)
22. Up (2009)
23. Toy Story 3 (2010)
24. Tangled (2010)
25. Brave (2012)
26. Frozen (2013)
27. Big Hero 6 (2014)
28. Inside Out (2015)
29. Moana (2016)
30. Zootopia (2016)
31. Cars 3 (2017)
32. Coco (2017)
The harder part was being able to divide these movies into 4 relatively equal categories.
The classic recipe of Hero/Prince and Heroine/Princess Disney movie category yields 8 movies, which we will call the "Love Story" category, I know, Frozen is not exactly a stereotypical love story, but you now what I mean; Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Tangled, Frozen.
Next, we have mostly "animal-centric" movies. This "Wild Bunch" category includes; Lion King, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Bolt, Zootopia, Lilo and Stitch.
Our third category includes anthropomorphic objects. This one was a little more difficult because there are some movies in which the argument can be made that may not fall under this category. I chose movies that make us realize "They're Alive." Movies included are the following; Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars, Wall-E, Toy Story 3, Big Hero 6, Inside Out and Cars 3.
Lastly, we have the rest of the movies, simply put, those that can be categorized as "Adventure" movies. A Nightmare Before Christmas, Mulan, Tarzan, The Incredibles, Up, Brave, Moana, Coco, finish out the last grouping for seeds.
Once divided, the seeding was a little easier within these regions. I used multiple factors to seed them. Awards, reviews, soundtrack popularity, pop culture weight, among other details that simply put each of the movies above the next in each category. I have to confess, I have not seen all of these movies, so some of these movies I am rating based on public acclaims, trailers and the opinions of the masses.
Love Stories
1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Frozen
3. Aladdin
4. Little Mermaid
5. Tangled
6. Pocahontas
7. Hercules
8. Hunchback of Notre Dame
Wild Bunch
1. Lion King
2. Finding Nemo
3. Monsters Inc
4. Lilo and Stitch
5. A Bug's Life
6. Zootopia
7. Bolt
8. Ratatouille
They're Alive!
1. Toy Story
2. Wall-E
3. Cars
4. Inside Out
5. Toy Story 3
6. Big Hero 6
7. Cars 3
8. Toy Story 2
Adventure
1. Coco
2. Moana
3. A Nightmare Before Christmas
4. Up
5. The Incredibles
6. Brave
7. Mulan
8. Tarzan
I can now rest easy knowing these seeds are about as accurate as they can be. I will make a bracket when I figure out how to do one.
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