To create The Lion King, the animators poured their whole hearts and souls into each animal they put onto the screen. They even brought real lions into the studio as references for their work, just like what Walt Disney did with his animators for films like Bambi and The Lady and the Tramp. Other digital effects made the beautiful African landscapes feel bigger than life, such as by implementing mist, sunbeams, and changes in camera focus to give a sense of perspective. Together, all these ambitious techniques make possible the unforgettable moment when Simba sees the vision of Mufasa in the sky.
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However, the film’s greatest accomplishment is the stampede—an endeavor in computer animation that accomplished a vision impossible to be met by traditional hand-drawn animation. First, a digital wildebeest model was made off of a hand-drawn piece of animation, and then to get hundreds of these models running together, a new software was developed so the wildebeest wouldn’t collide with one another. Yet the hard work of these animators would’ve been futile without the legendary musical score, with talent including Tim Rice, Elton John, Hans Zimmer, and Lebo M- a South African composer. The result is a definitive motion picture event designed at the same grand scale as Hollywood epics such as Ben-Hur or Lawrence of Arabia. So today, it’s remembered as one of the most influential animated films ever made.

This staple of the holiday season has a carefully effective way of structuring its complex story. First, the angels are framed front-and-center as the true heroes of the story until they introduce the character of George Bailey when they are set aside for the story to flow naturally. Then the rather long runtime surveys the relevant events of George’s life, with each segment feeling like its own contained television episode. When it reaches the point of George’s fateful decision to end his life, Clarence is casually reintroduced as the guardian angel who will save him, the point when the audience has already forgotten that this movie is primarily about the angels, not necessarily George. It subverts expectations while also reminding everyone watching the value of their life.
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While filming, director Frank Capra opted to film the outdoor winter scenes inside a refrigerated set to get cold breath from the actors. To create the snow, he went for a mixture of ice, gypsum, plaster, fomite, ivory soap, and water—a massive new achievement in producing cinematic snow. Yet other elements demonstrate why It’s a Wonderful Life eventually became the most famous Christmas movie ever made, such as the expertly staged scenes of dialogue and the angelic black-and-white cinematography. It may have been ignored for many years after its original release, but now it’s rightfully celebrated as the rare movie that’s capable of not just changing lives, but saving them.

PG (SV)
Drama/Fantasy
2 hr. 10 min.

Watch it to THINK.
​Watch it to feel HAPPY.
​Watch it to feel SAD.

This Yuletide classic originated from the idea of commercialism taking over Christmas, coupled with the question, “What if Santa Claus himself saw all this?” Furthermore, it was conceptualized and released as a real feud went on between the department stores Macy’s and Gimbels, of which the film focuses very heavily on. The problem though is that neither store would agree to have their names featured in the movie until they saw the finished product—if they didn’t like it, 20th Century Fox had to go back and reshoot virtually every scene! Considering the production even went as far as filming at the real Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, this was an enormous risk. Yet thankfully, both department stores were very happy with the finished product.
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And thank goodness they were! Miracle on 34th Street ended up being a delightfully jolly motion picture that perfectly encapsulates what Santa Claus would be like if he were a real person. Yet it also doesn’t shy away from its cynicism about the Christmas season, particularly in how major corporations try to turn Kris Kringle’s selfless intentions of helping customers into a big marketing stunt. So little is left to the imagination about why this classic for the holiday season has been so influential, even generating three remakes based on its timeless story. But the original remains the best—the ultimate testament to what makes the most joyous time of year so magical.

NR
Comedy
1 hr. 36 min.

Watch it for FUN.
Watch it to LEARN.
​Watch it to feel HAPPY.

Frozen is the finest example of a modern Disney classic that embraces the newness of computer animation to generate something truly spectacular. Animating the snow and ice proved to be a tremendous endeavor, seeing how the production crew programmed a snowflake generator that created over 2,000 unique snowflake shapes. Animating Elsa’s ice powers was also a tremendous showcase of how deep the animators’ attention to detail dove, seeing how in the scene where Elsa created her ice palace, the ice is animated to branch out the same way an actual snowflake does. Furthermore, whenever Elsa loses control over her ice powers, the ice she generates looks harsh with sharp edges, but once she gains control by using them out of love, the ice looks circular with soft edges.
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It's especially worth knowing that the now iconic song “Let it Go” was the reason why the writers rewrote Elsa’s character so that instead of her being the villain like originally planned, she was a co-lead for the audience to root for. That ended up being the right decision because, without the touching sisterly relationship between Anna and Elsa, this instant Disney classic would never have gone on to define an entire generation. It would never have pushed the Disney brand, or other child-focused industries, toward greater diversity with independent, active female protagonists who can teach kids healthy standards on what true love is all about.

PG (D)
Fantasy/Musical
1 hr. 42 min.

Watch it for FUN.
​Watch it to feel HAPPY and SAD.

Based on a poem Tim Burton wrote while he was a Disney animator, The Nightmare Before Christmas was originally going to be adapted into a TV special that pays tribute to holiday classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Yet what it became instead was a new approach to the laborious medium of stop-motion animation that no TV special could ever achieve. Taken straight from Tim Burton’s visualizations, this delightful little movie has beautiful set and character designs that found that fine balance between unsettling and charming, with distinct sets of colors and shapes used to differentiate between Halloween Town, Christmas Town, and the human world.
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When animating this feature film, nearly 200 puppets were made for the 230 large sets built across nineteen different soundstages. The Jack Skellington puppets alone had around 400 interchangeable heads built for his different facial expressions, and filming just one minute of screen time took a whole workweek! To make the project all the more ambitious, many digital effects, such as cartoon ghosts, were included, and Danny Elfman had to start working on his now iconic musical score before the script was even complete. Yet it paid off: this crowning achievement produced by Tim Burton is now a cultural staple that came to define the entire identity of the Halloween season, as well as become a cinematic reintroduction to the art of stop-motion.

PG (V)
Fantasy/Musical
1 hr. 16 min.

Watch it for FUN.
​Watch it to feel HAPPY.

Coco had its world premiere in Mexico the weekend before Día de los Muertos, the very holiday the movie takes place on, and there are many more instances that prove how far Pixar went to authentically portray the Mexican experience in this feature film of theirs. The Land of the Dead depicted is full of careful details taken straight from Mexico’s history, such as how the buildings are stacked on top of each other as a reference to the city of Guanajuato, and how these buildings at the bottom look primitive with pyramids, then gradually look more modern as they get closer to the top.
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Creating the Land of the Dead was one of the longest most laborious processes Pixar ever undertook; there were over 500 individual outfits made, and when using them to dress the skeleton characters, a problem quickly came up. The clothing kept clipping into the bones of the skeleton models, so the animators had to develop a new program called, “Continuous Collision Detection” to stop this from happening. Animating the guitar playing was also a challenge, yet the team pulled it off with the fingers of the guitar players always forming the correct chords. There’s clearly much sincere love here for not just music but family as well, which will ultimately make this landmark Pixar production a classic that leaves every eye moist by the end every time.

PG (DS)
Fantasy
1 hr. 45 min.

Watch it for FUN.
​Watch it to feel HAPPY, SAD, and AFRAID.

Director Domee Shi, in her feature film debut, demonstrates how well she can translate live-action filmmaking techniques into animation and take full advantage of the animation medium. She sustains a very balanced use of color where the school looks fluorescent green, which contrasts with the red on Meilin when she turns into a red panda. Other creative touches take direct inspiration from anime, which goes on to influence the music, action poses, and adorable, highlighted eyes. It's incredible how brave Pixar has become at this point to utilize such stylized animation in a way that doesn’t distract from the story.
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In regard to the subject matter, Meilin’s body is going through unusual changes, and her parents and friends remain so supportive of her. Meilin is a rather complex main character for a family film; she genuinely wants to prioritize family yet at the same time sees a boy band concert as her coming-of-age ritual. The story of this Chinese-Canadian tween is made even more special by the fact that it was directed by a Chinese-Canadian woman, who in turn tastefully explores the issues that come with a Chinese family moving into a new country, particularly in how it causes tension across generations. Bottom line: Turning Red is exactly what Disney needs right now to appeal to more mature audiences and represent more minority groups who need their stories to be heard.

PG (DV)
Comedy/Fantasy
1 hr. 40 min.

Watch it for FUN.
​Watch it to feel HAPPY and SAD.

Complete with its new technological breakthroughs that shall soon change the animation industry, Encanto is familiar yet far more sophisticated than any average motion picture produced by Disney. The lighting is more natural. The animation is more human. The magic is more magical. It’s a compilation of so many talents that bring every musical number to life. The already famous “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” sequence contains so many layers behind how the characters move, even with the way their fingers fly around. Breaking down the choreography of this number reveals everything needed to know about what each member of the family Madrigal ultimately wants, and in the end of the movie, those arcs are fully realized.

As if the attention to detail wasn’t impressive enough, reference footage was filmed of human dancers to help the animators create extravagant musical numbers that are as energetic as a real cumbia. It feels special because Walt Disney also used live references to inspire his animators, whether it was bringing real deer into the studio for the artists of Bambi, or having Helene Stanley dance for the artists of Sleeping Beauty. The challenges surpassed by this ambitious project of 2021 honor the past and offer hope for the future, which guarantees that not a single dry eye will remain in the audience by the end, and makes Disney’s 60th animated feature film a great time!

PG (D)
Fantasy/Musical
1 hr. 42 min.

Watch it for FUN.
​Watch it to feel HAPPY and SAD.

While John Krasinski originally didn’t plan on a Quiet Place sequel, he still picked up on the success of his horror smash-hit by building on all that it had the potential for, including the possibility of this concept turning into a franchise. The expansion of this world devastated by an alien invasion is such a keen exercise in allowing the setting to dictate what the characters’ personalities and struggles are like, particularly in how others outside the movie’s main family were affected. The family by the way is now deprived of their familiar resources at the farm and is stretched beyond their limit, the deaf daughter, Regan, most of all. While this sequel isn’t nearly as focused on silent communication as the first movie, Regan takes on more of a protagonist role to inspire other girls, women, and the entire Deaf community.
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This form of entertainment is accessible to everyone, with large action set pieces that required a lot more hands-on work than the first movie. The open-endedness of the finale likewise proves that there’s still more room for this concept to grow into a third installment, or perhaps even a television series. But even if those don’t ever happen, A Quiet Place Part II shall solidify its legacy as an ideal blockbuster to set the standards for how to create effective popcorn entertainment while also crafting a narrative that delves into the psychology of loss and survival.

PG-13 (V)
Horror/Sci-fi
1 hr. 37 min.

Watch it for FUN.
Watch it to THINK.
Watch it to feel AFRAID.

A Quiet Place only has 2-3 minutes of dialogue, with a screenplay of only 67 pages, but it still works tremendously as a blockbuster that continues to challenge what defines popcorn entertainment. Its post-apocalyptic world is built with some frightening sound effects, dark lighting, and a slow-moving camera that are masterfully implemented to generate a sense of urgency. It’s a genius work of utilizing ambiance instead of dialogue to tell the story, and it had proven so effective that the audience in the movie theater was reportedly too afraid to eat their popcorn, thus making noise, while watching the movie.
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When John Krasinski was brought on to direct, write, and star in this groundbreaking exercise of orchestrating thrills, he pulled greatly from his own experience raising his newborn daughter. His efforts with this hefty project grew even more personal when his casting decisions relied on instinct rather than auditions, as his decision to cast his wife Emily Blunt to play his character’s wife added to the impact of the film’s major events. Also in this cast was Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress who played the deaf daughter, and she along with a deaf coach on set ensured that all ASL communication between the family was clear and accurate. Ultimately, no movie exists quite like this one, and no movie may ever be quite like it either. Except of course, for its sequel.

PG-13 (V)
Horror/Sci-fi
1 hr. 30 min.

Watch it for FUN.
Watch it to THINK.
Watch it to feel AFRAID.