Toon Talk Special: 50 Greatest Disney Animated Moments: Part 1 of 2
Page 2 of 4

#45 - Pocahontas
Pocahontas - 1995

"She has her mother's spirit. She goes wherever the wind takes her." With those words, we are carried by said wind between the trees, over the river and up the side of a towering waterfall to our first sight of Pocahontas, poised regally at the top. Her stoic beauty, wind blowing through her jet black mane, a bemused look of unbridled joy and contentment playing across her features. No other character has had such an entrance.

#44 - ... And They Lived Happily Ever After
Sleeping Beauty - 1959

(c) Disney

Princess Aurora, awakened from her eternal slumber by love's first kiss, is reunited with her loving family and loyal subjects. As Tchaikovsky's Once Upon A Dream begins to play, she and her prince actually waltz into the clouds, her dress alternating from blue to pink as fairies Flora and Merryweather continue their sartorial squabble. Fauna sighs "I just love happy endings." Don't we all. This was not the first nor the last "happily ever after," but certainly the finest.

#43 - Birds of a Feather
The Three Caballeros - 1945

In this Latin American travelog, Donald Duck is joined by his old pal from Saludos Amigos Jose Carioca and their newest amigo Panchito for this dazzling fiesta of color. During the hysterical, gag-filled title number, pistols are blazing, sombreros are danced about, guitars are strummed. When Panchito hits his unending final note, Donald and Jose employ every device possible to squelch it: bug spray, fire, hacksaws, cannonballs. Ey caramba!

#42 - Escape from the Cave of Wonders
Aladdin - 1992

"Diamond in the rough" Aladdin has been duped by a disguised Jafar to retrieve the legendary magic lamp from the depths of the Cave of Wonders, a monolithic, tiger-headed sand castle in the deserts outside of Agrabah. Warned not to disturb any of the myriad of treasures within, Aladdin (in a scene right out of Raiders of the Lost Ark), retrieves the humble looking artifact, but not before monkey pal Abu, who can't keep his paws off a nearby jewel, sets off a cataclysmic chain reaction. Snapped out of the air by their newly befriended flying Carpet, our hero is whisked along on an exciting roller coaster of a ride, skimming above boiling lava, dodging falling rocks and navigating a series of twisting catacombs in an ill-fated attempt to escape from the carnage. And you are right there with him on that magic carpet ride.

#41 - Pink Elephants on Parade
Dumbo - 1941

Dumbo and his mentor mouse Timothy unintentionally imbibe in some spiked drinking water that induce hiccupped bubbles taking on the forms of oddly-shaped elephants. Suddenly we are witness to the kaleidoscopic visuals depicting their unfortunate drunkenness. Trumpeting, creepy circus music blares as these "technicolor pachyderms" commence in their wanton displays. Prancing about like harem girls and calypso dancers, chasing each other in motor cars and locomotives, the mayhem builds, the music crescendos, the colors swirl and then ... peace as the blackness fades away and the elephants disappear into the clouds ...

#40 - This Is What Happens to Boys on Pleasure Island
Pinocchio - 1940

Jiminy Cricket, rejected again by Pinocchio on that paradise for preadolescent pandemonium Pleasure Island, stumbles upon the ugly truth behind the decedent glitz. Smart-mouthed street punk Lampwick finds out too when he sprouts a donkey's ears and tail. Before a terrified Pinocchio, braying for his mama, Lampwick now knows the meaning of "making a jack-ass of yourself." (I have a friend who still won't watch this film because it "disturbed" him so as a child. I imagine it was due to this scene.)

#39 - The Hydra Battle
Hercules - 1997

(c) Disney

In the ultimate "final exam", our boy Herc gets his first taste of glory when he faces the first of many challenges from the dark lord Hades. Having unknowingly released the giant Hydra, the battle is seemingly cut short when the creature swallows the young hero whole. With a quick internal swipe of his blade, Hercules decapitates the beast and escapes from utter doom in one swift stroke. But the victory is short-lived as three more heads emerge in it's place. Sword flashing, heads rolling, he is soon faced with the threat of a dizzying viper's nest that only his godlike strength can overpower.

#38 - Two Worlds, One Family
Tarzan - 1999

In the opening shots of this latest adaptation of the classic adventure, awesome in it's depiction of a living tapestry of shape and movement, you know instantly that you are about to view an oft-told tale in a whole new way. (In other words, this ain't your father's ape man.) Set to Phil Collins' pounding rock score, the scene juxtaposes the two families (human and ape) in a parallel duality as they struggle to live in this harsh jungle environment, for "danger's no stranger here." When tragedy strikes both camps, in the form of the sleekly menacing Sabor, the survivors are united, these strangers from two worlds, coming together as one family.

#37 - The Egg Travels
Dinosaur - 2000

We have arrived in a prehistoric world, thrillingly realistic due to a groundbreaking mix of computer animated creatures and live action backgrounds. After a vicious carnatour attack, an orphaned iguanodon egg commences on a voyage through a breathtaking natural landscape, filled with "terrible lizards" of all shapes and sizes. James Newton Howard's African influenced score adds to the primitive feel as the adventures of Aladar begin.

#36 - This Is Halloween
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - 1993

As you enter the portal into Halloweentown, you are immersed in the unique imagination of Tim Burton, home to a motley crew of bizarrely formed manifestations of childhood fears. Pixie-faced vampires glide by, snaggle-nosed witches swoop by on gnarled broomsticks, boogie-men crawl out from under unsuspecting beds, all chanting Danny Elfman's spooky anthem "this is Halloween, this is Halloween". A pumpkin-headed scarecrow springs to life, swallowing a blaze that quickly ignites his body in flames, diving into a nearby fountain to emerge as Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown. "All hail to the Pumpkin King!"