The Golden Age

As mentioned in the introduction, the golden Age of Disney animation was while Walt Disney was alive.
The films included in this time span are:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Pinocchio  (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Dumbo (1941)
Bambi (1942)
Saludos Amigos (1942)
The Three Caballeros  (1944)
Make Mine Music (1946)
Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Melody Time (1948)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Cinderella (1950)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Peter Pan (1953)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
101 Dalmations (1961)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
The Jungle Book (1967)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
In the years leading up to its release, this film was referrred to as "Disney's Folly".  Up until this point, animation had only been used for short cartoons.  Numerous concerns were propelled towards Walt as work on the film proceeded.  Everything from it being too long to the bright colors causing people to faint were said.  But Walt continued on through it all, konwing it would work.  And it did.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opened at the Carthay Circle Theater and was an instant sucess.  Everything about it was praised and it remains one of the greatest films, animation or otherwise, of all time.
Trivia:
In the original film there were two other sequences, one where the dwarfs are tought manners by Snow White and a second where they build her a four-poster bed as a thank-you gift.  Both scenes were partially animated, but were pulled from the film due to time constraints. 
This was the first film to have a soundtrack album released with the film.
Walt received a special Oscar award for making the film.  It consisted of the regular statue followed by seven minature staues, representing Snow White and the dwarves.

Pinocchio
Several months before Snow white was released, and when everyone was saying it would fail, Walt was all ready planning his next animated film!  Pinocchio was released in 1940, and although popular, it was not financial success Snow White had been.  This was due to the film not being show in much of Europe due to World War II.  But the film has gone on to become one of Disney's most popular, despite all.
Trivia:
This was the first Disney film to win a regular Ocsar award.  It won for Best Score and Best Song (When You Wish Upon a Star). 
The film is based on the 1883 book by Italian author Carlo Collodi.

Fantasia
Considered by many to be Walt's most ambitious project in anmation, Fantasia is certainly one of the msot beautyiful animated films of all time.  The basic premise of the film is animation and classical music combined.  Several famous pieces of music are set to the stuning visuals only possible with aniamtion.  The centerpiece of the film is "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequence.  This shows Mickey using magic to prevent him from having to work.  But he doesn't know how to stop the spell once the work is completed.
Trivia:
In the Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence, the sorcerer is named Yen Sid.  Are you wondering what the big deal about that is?  It's Disney spelled backwards.
This film features Chernabog, one of the most evil Disney Villains, in the Night on Bald Mountain sequence.
The entire point of the Sorcerer's Apprentice was to reboost Mickey's career.  Mickey's popularity was starting to fade, being replaced by the public with characters like Goofy and Donald Duck.  This was originally seen as an elaborate short, but then Walt got the idea for Fantasia.

Dumbo
Pinocchio, Fantasia, and the still in production Bambi had cost a lot of money, more than the studio had.  None of them were large financial successes and the profit from Snow White was almost gone.  Dumbo was made as a small low-budget film that could help the studio make money.  It is the shortest of the animated films, clocking in a just a little over an hour.  But it was a large enough profit to let the studio finish Bambi and continue on into the future.
Trivia:
When the circus tent falls after Dumbo's disastrous show, the falling tent looks a bit like a falling elephant. 
If portions of the Pink Elephants On Parade scene look familier, maybe you saw them in Winnie-the-Pooh.  Portions of the animation were repainted and reused for the Heffalumps and Woozles sequence.

Bambi
Released in the middle of World War II, Bambi was ana expensive failure.  It lost money, although it was extremely popular.  The European market was virtually gone and the studio was deep in debt.  On top of everything, the government had comandeered the studios and were using them for things such as war and propaganda films.  All projects, including in-production versions of Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows and Peter Pan were shut down. 
Trivia: Live deer and other animals were brought to the studio for life-action reference.  This would be repeated years later when The Lion King was in production.

The "Package Films"
As te studio continued to lose money, Walt knew there could be no more animated features.  Instead the studio produced several "package features" These consisted of several small shprts combined into a film.  They were relativly easy to animate and made a very small profit.  When the war ended animation continued on the Wind in the Willows and it was combined with "The Tale of Sleepy Hollow" to become The adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.  Even though the war was over and the government no longer controled the stuido, they were still deep in debt and closing the studio seemed sure.

Cinderella
But there was light at the end of the tunnel.  After many years of losing money and debt, the studio finally finished Cinderella.  It was a hit, becoming everything Snow White was over a decade before.  Cinderella allowed the studio to pay off most debts and to finance other projects.
Trivia:
This was the first Disney film to feature Eleanor Audley as a voice for a character.  Even if you've never heard her name before I'm sure you would know what her voice sounds like.  She was Lady Tremaine, the stepmother.  She would go on to voice Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty and The ghostly Madame Leota in the disneyland attraction, The Haunted Mansion.
Possibly the most famous animated film of all time, this story inspired Cinderella castle at Walt Disney World and  the Disney logo.

Alice in Wonderland
With the money from Cinderella "rolling in" the studio was able to restart production on Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.  As a profitable sidenote, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bami were playing in the Eupropean markets that had been destroyed by the war. 
Trivia:
One of the greatest Disney "voices" is Verna Felton.  This extremely talented woman had voiced many Disney characters including Cinderella's fairy godmother, The Queen of Hearts, Flora in Sleeping Beauty, Nanny in 101 Dalmations among others.  She died on the same day as Walt Disney.
This film was not as well received as others due to the fact that it was "weirder" than previously animated films. 

Peter Pan
Like Alice in wonderland this film was not as profitable as previous ones, but it still has wonderful animation and songs. 
Trivia:
The film continues the stage tradition of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling being played by the same actor.
This was the first time Peter had been played by a boy.  In all stage versions he was played by a girl due to the fact that they were lighter and easier to "fly" around the stage. 

Lady and the Tramp
The first animated film to not be completely considered a "family" or "kids" movie, Lady and the Tramp came out in 1955, the same year as Disneyland first opened its gates.
Although the film was sucessful, Disneyland was the "big thing" that year.  like Snow White, Disneyland was considered "Disney's Folly", but when it opened it was instantly popular and is to this day.  For the first time in it's history, the company was debt-free and would never have to worry about money again.
Trivia:
The siamese cats names are Si and Am.

Sleeping Beauty
Most assuradly the most beautifully animated film, Sleeping Beauty was also the most expensive, costing in 1959 money, seven million dollars.  That was several million over budget. 
The medeval style backgrounds and designs were made to look like an             old tapestry.
Trivia:
This was the first disney film where a main character directly slayed the villain.
According to many fans (and Disney) Maleficent is the most evil Disney villain.
The characters in this film were animated more rigidly than others.  However some animators thought this made them cold and seemingly heartless.  The three fairies are the exceptions to this.

101 Dalmations
This film was animated in a completely different style than the others to give it a more modern day appearance.  This was also the first animated film to use the Xerox process, which transferred the animators drawings directly from them to the film, eliminating the painters inbetween.  This saved time and money and was also the only way the animators would have been able to draw 101 dogs and still get the job done!
Trivia:
Cruella De Vil was originally going to make a return in The Rescurers, but Disney realized this would make unwanted connections between the films and she weas replaced with Madame Medusa. 
The actress who played Cruella also played another Disney character.  Any guesses who?  The very calm and normal sounding narrator in Cinderella!

The Sword in the Stone
The animation, although heavily influenced by 101 Dalmations, was starting to slip in quality due to the fact that Walt was becoming preoccupied with Disneyland and life-action projects such as Mary Poppins.  This film, although good, was rather uneventful.

The Jungle Book
After The Sword in the Stone's animation slipped, Walt was back in the studio overseeing things.  But this could not last.  Walt died in december 1966, leaving the film half finished and the studio, although it sounds dramatic, in chaos.  The film was completed and it opened at the renowned Chinese theater in Hollywood.
His death led into a new era of animation, one where the animators were on their own, without their driving force to keep quality and morale up. 

One quote by Walt can easily describe these twenty-five years from Snow White to Disneyland.

"If you can dream it, you can do it" -Walt Disney

The Disney Renaissance

As previously mentioned, the Disney Renaissance was from the years 1989-1999.
During this time period some of the greatest Disney animated films were made. 
These films were made during the Disney Renaissance:

The Little Mermaid  (1989)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Aladdin (1992)
The Lion King (1994)
Pocahontas (1995)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Hercules (1997)
Mulan (1998)
Tarzan (1999)
Fantasia 2000 (1999)

(Note that two other films, The Rescurers Down Under and Oliver and Company, were also made during this time period, but they are not usually considered part of the Renaissance)

The Little Mermaid:

This was the film that dragged Disney out of the "dark ages" of the 80s.  The combination of characters, animation, and music created a film that harkened back to the Disney classics.  The film won two academy awards, one for Best Score and one for Best Song (Under the Sea).
Trivia:
This was the first fairy tale Disney made into a animated film since Sleeping Beauty (1959)
During one of the first scenes, when King Triton is arriving at the musical, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy can be seen in the crowd.
According to Disney, Ursula is actually Ariel's aunt.
Ursula is not an octopus.  She has six arms, not eight.  This was done becasue six arms are easier and cheaper to animate than eight.

Beauty and the Beast:
Considered by some to be the greatest animated film of all time, this remains the only 2D animated film to be nominated for Best Picture.  It won the award for Best Score and received three nominations for Best Song eventually winning for the title song.
Trivia:
The famous ballroom scene from the film was Disney's first large scale use of computer generated animation.  Although it had been used before, it had never been used on as large a scale as this.
In early concepts for the film there was a song called "Human Again" in the middle of the film.  It was sung by the enchanted objects and was about their longing to be human again.  It was cut from the original film but was put back in for a special DVD release ten years later.
when Gaston falls from the tower at the end of the battle scene small skulls appear in his eyes.  Although nearly impossible to see normally, if you pause the film at that moment you can see them.

Aladdin:
Continuing Disney's legacy, Aladdin also won Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Song for A Whole New World. 
Trivia:
In the original release there was  line in the opening song that said "where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face"  This was highly criticized for being racist and in later releases the line was replaced.
Each of the characters in Aladdin are essentially a single geometric shape.

The Lion King:
One of the most Disney popular films, this film once again continued Disney's winning streak of winning Best Score and Best Song (Can you Feel the Love Tonight).
Trivia:
Disney actually brought the animals  they were going to animate to the studio for life-action reference.  They had also done this during production of Bambi.
During Hercules, Hercules is seen wearing Scar's skin while posing for a portrait.  This is a reference to both the film and the Nemean lion of Greek Mythology.
At the climax of "Toy Story" the song Hakuna Matata can be heard playing on Andy's radio.

Pocahontas:
I bet you saw this coming, this film also won Best Score and Best Song (Colors of the Wind)
Trivia:
In the original concepts, Pocahontas had three animal friends.  Meeko the raccoon, Flit the hummingbird and a turkey.  The turkey was eventually deleted from the film.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame:
One of the darker Disney films, this one was not quite a popular as the previous ones.  However it still boasts excellent animation and story.
Trivia:
Two of the gargoyles are named after the original book's author.  Victor and Hugo.
This adaption of the original book is drastically different than the source material.  In the book, the hunchback is not always the "good" guy and Quasimodo, Phoebus, and Esmeralda all end up dying.

Hercules:
There really isn't particulary interesting trivia that I could find this movie other than the previously mentioned Lion King one.

Mulan:
Trivia:
This film is based on an old Chinese story.  In China this story is as well known as the story of Cinderella is in western countries.
One thing this film takes advantage of color. The color of the backgrounds change constantly to reflect the charcters mood or the story.  One example is that when Chang almost kills Mulan the sky gradually gets redder.  When he throws away the sword the sky returns to deep blue.

Tarzan:

Trivia
This was the first animated film to make use of a new technology called "Deep Canvas".  This allowed the animators to "paint" on the three demensional backgrouds, resulting in more realistic effects.

Fantasia 2000:
The last film of the Disney Renaissance.  It seems appropriate that the last film should be a new take on an old classic.
Trivia:
Originally this film was to have more sequences from the original Fantasia.  These included the "Dance of the Hours" "The Nutcracker Suite" and "The Sorcerers Apprentice"  However, due to time constraints only the Sorcerers Apprentice appeared in the final film. 
For years had tried to make a short film from Hans Christian Anderson's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier."
Eventually it was added to Fantasia 200 and combined with "Piano Concerto No. 2" by Dimitri Shostakovich.
After a few years a second Fantasia sequel was planned, but was quickly shut down. 
The short film "The Little Match Girl" also based on an Anderson fairy tale, was planned to be in this, but was released as a stand alone short film.

An Introduction-

It is hard to imagine the world without Disney.  Consider that now.  A world with no Mickey Mouse of Donald Duck, no Disney princesses, no grand castles in theme parks around the world.  Hard to imagine, isn't it?

This blog will mainly be about Disney animated films and possibly the five Disney resorts.
One important fact to realize about Disney is that its history is divided into five main sections of time.  These time periods reflect the type and quality of work put out by the comapany.  The five time periods are:

The "Golden" Age: From about 1928-1965.  (This time period is the entire time Walt Disney was alive. Major works from this time include Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Fantasia, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, and The Jungle Book.)

The "Silver" Age: From 1966-about 1980.  (This time period still produced amazing animation films, but the quailty started to slip as the original animators retired and a new set of animators took their place.  Notable films include The Aristocats, The Rescurers, and The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh)

The "Dark" Age: From 1981-1988  (During this time period the quality of the animation drastically decreased.  The company started to view the films as money instead of as art which they had previously been considered.  During this time Disney produced the disastrous "The Black Cauldron."  This filmed was marketed towards teenagers instead of the normal audience of families.  The darker storyline and grusome visuals were not popular and they were not well received.  After the film was so unpopular Disney returned to more "kid-friendly" stories.  Not very many films were made during this time, but one that showed good animation and a pleasing storyline was "The Great Mouse Detective."

The Disney "Renaissance":  From 1989-1999  (During this ten year period some of the greatest animated filmes of all time were made.  This period was ushered in by "The Little Mermaid" and with it Disney returned to family films and combined that with rich animation and wonderful music.  in 1991 Disney produced "Beauty and the Beast" which remains the only 2-D animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.  Other notable films include Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Hercules, and Tarzan.

The "Bronze" Era:  2000-2009  (After the sucesses of the films of the Renaissance, Disney concentrated less energy on animation and more on their theme parks and live-action movies.  Like in the 80s, the animation started to slip.  Although the films did well and were fairly popular, they did not have the impact that earlier films had.  Films during this era include Lilo and Stitch, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Bolt, and Meet the Robinsons.)

The Current Era: Today  (With the large sucess of "The Princess and the Frog" Disney animation seems to be back on track.  This theory will either be confirmed or destroyed with the next animated films "Tangled" and "Winnie-the-Pooh.)