The next year, instead of movies, the AFI saluted movie stars with AFI�s 100 Years � 100 Stars. (The title is a bit of a misnomer, as only 50 �screen legends� were named; they got around it by interviewing 50 contemporary stars for the program.) The criteria for this countdown was �an actor or a team of actors with a significant screen presence in American feature-length films whose screen debut occurred in or before 1950, or whose screen debut occurred after 1950 but whose death has marked a completed body of work.� As the Disney studio didn�t even start making fully live action movies until 1950, the only Disney actors to appear on this list are (again) Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas and Lillian Gish.

As next year marks the 10^th anniversary of the original 100 Stars broadcast, I imagine that the AFI will finally get around to naming the top 50 stars from 1951 to (most likely) 2000. If so, I expect such contemporary actors with Disney connections as Julie Andrews, Johnny Depp, Jodi Foster, Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Denzel Washington and Robin Williams could be among those named if this does occur.

Among the 500 nominees for recognition (250 male and 250 female stars), names familiar to Disney fans include Pearl Bailey, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Ray Bolger, Beulah Bondi, Leo G. Carroll, Maurice Chevalier, Bing Crosby, Jane Darwell, Buddy Ebsen, Nelson Eddy, Greer Garson, Helen Hayes, Burl Ives, Elsa Lanchester, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lorre, Fred MacMurray, Karl Malden, James Mason, Hattie McDaniel, Roddy McDowell, Dorothy McGuire, Adolph Menjou, Una Merkel, Agnes Moorehead, David Niven, Maureen O�Hara, Geraldine Page, Slim Pickens, Basil Rathbone, Roy Rogers, Mickey Rooney, Charles Ruggles, George Sanders, Dinah Shore, Red Skelton, Peter Ustinov, Shelley Winters and Jane Wyman.

Likely responding to complaints of the lack of comedies in the original 100 Movies list, AFI�s next list was all about the funny. However, at least according to their 100 Years � 100 Laughs poll, the AFI didn�t think there was anything too funny in the Disney films nominated. Granted, the odds were against them; of the 500 nominees, only eight were from Disney: The Absent-Minded Professor, Aladdin, Freaky Friday, The Love Bug, Mary Poppins, The Parent Trap, Toy Story and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The following year, with AFI�s 100 Years � 100 Thrills (celebrating �the most heart-pounding American movies of all time�), was more of the same, with no Disney movies making the final cut. In fact, only Pinocchio and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea appeared on the ballot of 400 nominated films. But then again, Disney was never much in the business of making thrillers.

Romance was in the air the next year with AFI�s 100 Years � 100 Passions. Proving that even love between two dogs and between a small town girl and a beastly prince make for lasting cinematic passion, both Disney�s Lady and the Tramp (#95) and Beauty and the Beast (#34) placed on this countdown of �the greatest love stories of all time�. Since Disney is all about the �happily ever after�, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid were also named among the 400 nominated romances.

Disney had its best AFI showing to date with the 100 Years � 100 Heroes & Villains in 2003. Splitting the characters 50/50 among the good guys and bad guys, Disney�s ever-popular villains naturally faired well, with three in the top 50, including their first top ten listing. The Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs placed #10 on the list, while another Disney diva -- Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians -- came in at #39. And all of mankind, as seen in Bambi, landed at #20 on the countdown.

(It�s worth noting that such characters as Robin Hood (#18), Tarzan (#34) and Zorro (#45), all of which have had movie adventures courtesy of Disney, were also named on the heroes� side of the countdown, albeit in their original cinematic forms.)

Several other Disney heroes and villains were included on the ballot of 400 nominees, including Beauty and the Beast�s Belle, Cinderella�s Wicked Stepmother, The Little Mermaid�s Ursula, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Pinocchio�s Stromboli, Sleeping Beauty�s Maleficent, Toy Story 2�s Buzz Lightyear and Treasure Island�s Long John Silver.

Disney doubled their record the following year, but considering it was AFI�s 100 Years � 100 Songs, it is no surprise they showed so well. They even placed their highest to date, with Pinocchio�s �When You Wish Upon a Star� coming in at #7 in the top ten. Other Disney tunes on this hot 100 were Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs� �Some Day My Prince Will Come� (#20), Mary Poppins� �Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious� (#36), Song of the South�s �Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah� (#47), the title song from Beauty and the Beast (#62) and The Lion King�s �Hakuna Matata� (#99).

Naturally, many other Disney songs were on the ballot of 400 tunes, including Aladdin�s �Friend Like Me� and �A Whole New World�, Beauty and the Beast�s �Be Our Guest�, Cinderella�s �A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes� and �Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo�, Dumbo�s �Baby Mine�, The Jungle Book�s �The Bare Necessities� and �I Wanna Be Like You�, Lady and the Tramp�s �He�s a Tramp�, The Lion King�s �Circle of Life� and �Can You Feel the Love Tonight�, The Little Mermaid�s �Under the Sea�, Mary Poppins� �Chim Chim Cher-ee�, Monsters, Inc.�s �If I Didn�t Have You�, Pocahontas� �Colors of the Wind�, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs� �Whistle While You Work�, So Dear To My Heart�s �Lavender Blue (Dilly, Dilly)�, Tarzan�s �You�ll Be In My Heart�, Toy Story�s �You�ve Got a Friend in Me� and Toy Story 2�s �When She Loved Me�.

Despite their strong showing in 2004, Disney sat out the next year with AFI�s 100 Movies � 100 Movie Quotes. And with only four quotes -- �A lie keeps growing and growing until it�s as clear as the nose on your face� (Pinocchio), �Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?� (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), �To infinity and beyond!� (Toy Story) and �I�m not bad, I�m just drawn that way� (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) -- among the 400 nominees, it is not surprising.

The next year wasn�t much better, with AFI�s 100 Years � 100 Cheers. Disney didn�t have a lot to cheer about this countdown of �America�s most inspiring movies� -- only Pinocchio made the final cut (at #38). Out of only 300 films named this time, Disney�s Cool Runnings, Dumbo, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, The Mighty Ducks, Miracle, Pollyanna, Remember the Titans and The Rookie inspired nominations.

Last year, AFI revisited their first list, AFI�s 100 Years � 100 Movies, with a 10th Anniversary Edition (the original poll took place in 1997). And again, Disney only placed two films on the final countdown. The good news: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs moved up, from #49 to #34. The bad news: Fantasia dropped off the list altogether, replaced by Toy Story, all the way down at #99. (Fantasia was in good company, though; other notable films not on the list the second go round include Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Rebel Without a Cause and The Third Man.)

Other Disney movies among the new list�s 400 nominees included Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Pinocchio and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.