Disney. When you hear this word, you might automatically think of movies like "Cinderella," "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast" or even "The Rescuers." However, you usually don't think of "Atlantis," "Home on the Range" or "Treasure Planet."
The point is Disney hasn't made an awesome movie (in my opinion) since "Lilo and Stitch" in 2002. (By this I mean Disney animation only, and also just Disney, not Disney and Pixar combined.)
In Disney's first 10 years (1937-1947), they made "Bambi," "Snow White" and seven other animated films.
The next 20 years, they produced 10 films, including "Cinderella," "Lady and the Tramp" and "101 Dalmatians." Eight of these had at least moderate success.
In the nearly 20 years after that, Disney's success grew even more. Films like "The Rescuers" and "The Fox and the Hound" were released. There were still failures, though, too --"The Black Cauldron," "The Great Mouse Detective" and "Oliver and Company" among them.
The time from 1989 to 1999 is often called the Disney Renaissance. Of the 10 films made during that time period, nine were successes. Sadly, "The Rescuers Down Under" was the sole flop.
Within these 10 years, many of the iconic Disney films we know today were made -- "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and The Beast" and "Aladdin." With "Beauty and the Beast," Disney was so sure that it would be a success, that they premiered it when it was only about 75 percent complete. It would be nice for them to be that sure and do that again.
Also, though I didn't think they were that great, "Hercules" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" were very successful upon their release during this time. In December 1999, the renaissance ended after the widely successful "Tarzan," when "Fantasia 2000" came out.
For the last eight years, Disney has been in a slump. "Lilo and Stitch" and "The Emperor's New Groove" were quite successful, but "Atlantis," "Treasure Planet," "Chicken Little," "Home on the Range" and "Meet the Robinsons" were pretty much flops, drawing unimpressive box office numbers.
Though it didn't do well at the box office, I thought "Meet the Robinsons" was pretty good. However, compared to other Disney movies, it was kind of un-Disney-ish.
After "Lilo and Stitch" and "The Emperor's New Groove," "Brother Bear" has been the third most successful Disney film in this time, but it isn't as impressive as half of the older movies released by Disney.
Next up for Disney is "Bolt," due out in November. In it, John Travolta portrays a dog that believes it has superpowers.
I think Americans are ready for some good old-fashioned Disney movies again. Teens my age were lucky to grow up with Disney during its captivating years of animation. Kids now are lucky that they have Pixar.