Monday, February 21, 2011

My Top 20 Disney Live Action Films (Part I: #20 – 11)

When I started ranking my top 50 or so Disney films, I realized it was really difficult to rank live action films with animated films. I quickly decided that the two must be separated for my two final lists. I am saving Animated Films for last because they really are mostly my favorites, so this is part I of my Top 20 Live Action Disney Films since I’ve been alive.

#20: Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) – Remember when Disney realized that Tim Allen was a comedic gold mine in The Santa Clause? I’m convinced this movie was a result of that discovery. As a young teen I loved it! The idea of bringing (a cute teenage) Mowgli from the Jungle Book into the city to learn how the modern world works had me constantly laughing.

#19: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) – This movie offered reassurance to an entire generation that if lost, your pet would find you. Because of this movie I still hold on to hope that if Sprinkles went missing, he’d brave rivers and danger to return to me. (I shudder at the thought of getting all the sticks & leaves out of his coat when he returned home though!)

#18: High School Musical (2006) – Disney has a bit of a fame factory going. (What? You hadn’t noticed?) All I’m going to say about it is that sequels to this movie were totally unnecessary as the first one was actually good.

#17: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) – Lindsey Lohan had a good run of it with Disney, and I enjoyed most of what she did. I will say that Easy A has replaced this movie and Mean Girls as my favorite teen movie.

#16: Freaky Friday (2003) – Sometimes remakes work when you have the right cast. You might disagree, but I think Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan were the perfect choice for this.

#15: The Parent Trap (1998) – The original was better, but don’t we all like to remember Lindsey in this form? Sweet, innocent, not a thief…. Anyways, I watched this movie tons of times as it used to come on the Disney Channel a lot (before bad acting and overly dramatic teens *cough cough Miley Cyrus* took over).

#14: Benji the Hunted (1987) – He was a dog running around doing things. I was 4. Of course I loved him! My father on the other hand thought this was the worst movie ever made: “He didn’t even talk! He just ran around!”

#13: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) – I’ve always wondered what it would be like if I were tiny. This movie saved me the trouble of making a shrink ray and showed me what it would be like instead.

#12: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe (2005) – This also goes for the movies following it in the series: they nailed this series with great use of amazing effects and beautiful wardrobe (hehe no pun intended). It should rank higher on my list since I loved the books, but there are so many better ones with more of a Disney feel to them.

#11: Bedtime Stories (2008) – I just saw this movie a month ago at CareNow when it was on it the exam room. (Yes, I saw the WHOLE THING while waiting, but that's neither here nor there!) When I went back for a recheck and had to wait an hour, I was more than happy to watch it again! Russell Brand and Adam Sandler combined to make this a movie full of clean humor and big laughs with just enough “awwwww” to make the girls love it too.

How am I doing? Do you agree, or would you have totally left Benji the Hunted off the list? Later this week I'll give you my Top 10 Live Action Disney Films. Stay tuned. :)

2 comments:

  1. Using Russell Brand and clean humor in the same sentence just totally blew my mind. Ditto for Tim Allen and comedic gold mine. Benji definitely deserves a spot somewhere on the list.

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  2. I was shocked that there was a setting where I truly enjoyed Russell Brand. I mean, he's funny but he's not my favorite comedian & he tends to be vulgar. Good for Dinsey for reigning that in! Tim Allen was comedic genius at the time. He was Tim the Tool Man Taylor & kids my age (& most parents as I recall) thought he was hilarious especially in the Disney movie context. I still love him! I wonder if Benji would be boring now that we're adults...

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