Oliver and Company

Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on the classic Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, which has been adapted many other times for the screen.

In the film, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive in the streets. Among other changes, the setting of the film was relocated from 19th century London to modern-day New York City, Fagin’s gang is made up of dogs (one of which is Dodger), and Sykes is a loan shark.

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On Fifth Avenue, an orphaned kitten named Oliver is left abandoned after his fellow orphaned kittens are adopted by passersby. Wandering the streets by himself in search of someone to adopt him, Oliver meets a laid-back mongrel named Dodger who assists the kitten in stealing food from a hot dog vendor named Louie. Dodger then flees the scene without sharing his bounty with Oliver. Oliver follows Dodger all throughout the streets until he eventually arrives at the barge of his owner, a pickpocket named Fagin, along with his meal, to give to his friends: Tito the chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Rita the Saluki, and Francis the bulldog.

Oliver sneaks inside, located below the docks, and is discovered by the dogs. After a moment of confusion, he is then received with a warm welcome. Fagin comes in and explains that he is running out of time to repay the money he borrowed from Sykes, a nefarious shipyard agent and loan shark. Sykes tells Fagin that the money must be paid in three days, under the threat of resolving to violence. Sykes’s dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto, attack Oliver, but the cat is defended by Fagin’s dogs. Immediately thereafter, a depressed Fagin returns to the barge, lamenting that he only has three days to find the money he owes Sykes. After the dogs cheer him up, Fagin is introduced to Oliver, and, considering that they all need help, accepts him into the gang.

The next day, Fagin and his pets, now including Oliver, hit the streets to sell some shoddy goods and perhaps steal money. Oliver and Tito attempt to sabotage a limousine driven by Winston, a butler who is chaperoning Jenny Foxworth, a lonely rich girl whose parents are away on a trip. However, the plan backfires when Oliver accidentally slips on the ignition keys, starting the car and electrocuting Tito. Jenny then helps untangle Oliver from the wires and adopts him out of loneliness, much to the disgust of Georgette, the Foxworth family’s pompous and pampered poodle. Dodger and the others manage to steal Oliver from the Foxworth family and return him to the barge, but he explains that he was treated kindly and did not want to leave, much to the disappointment of Dodger who feels that Oliver is being ungrateful, but allows him the opportunity to leave. However, Fagin arrives and concocts a plan to ransom Oliver, then sends Jenny a ransom note. Jenny discovers the note and sets out to get Oliver back, while Fagin informs Sykes of his plan.

Later, Jenny meets up with Fagin, who is shocked that the “very rich cat owner person” is only a little girl. Bothered by his conscience after seeing Jenny distraught over losing Oliver, Fagin gives Oliver back freely. Just then, Sykes comes out of the shadows and kidnaps Jenny, intending to ransom her and declaring Fagin’s debt paid.

Dodger rallies Oliver and the other dogs to rescue Jenny from Sykes, but the animals are confronted by Sykes and his Dobermans after they free her. Fagin saves the group with his scooter and a chase ensues throughout the streets and into the subway tunnels. Jenny is pushed onto the hood of Sykes’s car after he rams it against the scooter, where she holds onto the hood ornament, and Oliver and Dodger attempt a rescue. Roscoe and DeSoto fall off the car in the struggle and land on the subway’s third rail, electrocuting them. Tito takes control of Fagin’s scooter as Fagin manages to retrieve Jenny, and Tito drives the scooter up the side of the Brooklyn Bridge as Sykes’ car drives straight into the path of an oncoming train, killing him and throwing him and his car into the East River. Dodger and Oliver manage to avoid the collision thanks to Sykes throwing them off him before the impact and are reunited with Jenny and the others. Later, Jenny celebrates her birthday with the animals, Fagin and Winston. That same day, Winston receives a phone call from Jenny’s parents in Rome saying that they will be back Stateside in Manhattan tomorrow. Oliver opts to stay with Jenny, but he promises to remain in contact with Dodger and the gang.

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid tells the story of Ariel, a mermaid princess who dreams of becoming human.

The 28th Disney animated feature film, The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989 to largely positive reviews. It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance.

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Ariel, a sixteen-year-old mermaid princess, is dissatisfied with underwater life in the kingdom of Atlantica and is fascinated by the human world. With her best friend Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts in her grotto and often goes to the surface of the ocean to visit Scuttle, a seagull who offers very inaccurate knowledge of human culture. She ignores the warnings of her father King Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, and Sebastian, a crab who serves as Triton’s adviser and court composer, that contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden.

One night, Ariel, Flounder, and an unwilling Sebastian travel to the ocean surface to watch a celebration for Prince Eric’s birthday on a ship. Ariel instantly falls in love with Eric. Shortly afterward, a violent storm arrives, which wrecks the ship and tosses Eric overboard. Ariel rescues him and brings him to shore. She sings to him, but immediately leaves just as he regains consciousness to avoid being discovered. Fascinated by the memory of her voice, Eric vows to find the girl who saved and sang to him and Ariel vows to find a way to join him and his world. Noticing a change in Ariel’s behavior, Triton questions Sebastian about her behavior and learns of her love for Eric. Triton confronts Ariel in her grotto, and destroys the artifacts she collected with his trident. After Triton leaves, two eels named Flotsam and Jetsam convince Ariel to visit Ursula the sea witch.

Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human for three days in exchange for Ariel’s voice, which Ursula puts in a nautilus shell. Within these three days, Ariel must receive the “kiss of true love” from Eric. If Ariel gets Eric to kiss her, she will remain a human permanently. Otherwise, she will transform back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula. Ariel accepts and is then given human legs and taken to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian. Eric finds Ariel on the beach and takes her to his castle, unaware that she is the one who had rescued him earlier. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at the end of the second day, they almost kiss but are thwarted by Flotsam and Jetsam. Angered at Ariel’s close success, Ursula disguises herself as a beautiful young woman named Vanessa and appears onshore singing with Ariel’s voice. Eric recognizes the song and, in her disguise, Ursula casts a hypnotic enchantment on Eric to make him forget about Ariel.

The next day, Ariel sadly hears Eric will be married to Vanessa. Scuttle discovers Vanessa’s true identity, and alerts Ariel who immediately pursues the wedding barge. Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle disrupts the wedding with the help of various animals. In the chaos, the nautilus shell around Ursula’s neck is destroyed, restoring Ariel’s voice and breaking Ursula’s enchantment over Eric. Realizing Ariel is the girl who saved his life, Eric rushes to kiss her, but the sun sets, and Ariel reverts into a mermaid. Ursula then kidnaps Ariel. Triton confronts Ursula and demands Ariel’s release, but the deal is inviolable. At Ursula’s urging, Triton agrees to take Ariel’s place as Ursula’s prisoner, giving up his trident. Ariel is released as Triton transforms into a polyp and loses his authority over Atlantica. Ursula declares herself the new ruler, but before she can use the trident, Eric intervenes with a harpoon. Ursula attempts to kill Eric, but Ariel intervenes, causing Ursula to inadvertently kill Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to expand into monstrous proportions.

Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before Ursula grows past and towers over them. She then gains full control of the entire ocean, creating a storm and bringing sunken ships to the surface. Just as Ursula is about to kill Ariel, Eric steers a wrecked ship towards Ursula, impaling her with its splintered bowsprit. With Ursula defeated, Triton and the other polyps in Ursula’s garden revert to their original forms. Now accepting that Ariel truly loves Eric, Triton willingly changes her from a mermaid into a human permanently and approves her marriage to Eric. Ariel and Eric marry on a ship and depart.

Rescuers Down Under

The Rescuers Down Under is a 1990 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 16, 1990. The 29th Disney animated feature film, the film is the sequel to the 1977 animated film The Rescuers, which was based on the novels of Margery Sharp. Set in the Australian Outback, the film centers on Bernard and Bianca traveling to Australia to save a boy named Cody from a villainous poacher in pursuit of an endangered bird of prey.

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In the Australian Outback, a young boy named Cody rescues and befriends a rare golden eagle called Marahuté, who shows him her nest and eggs. Later on, he falls into an animal trap set by Percival C. McLeach, a local poacher wanted by the Australian Rangers. When McLeach finds one of Marahuté’s feathers in Cody’s backpack, he realizes he knows the eagle’s location, and reveals he killed another, Marahuté’s mate. McLeach throws Cody’s backpack to a pack of crocodiles to trick the Rangers into thinking that Cody was eaten, and kidnaps him, intent on extracting Marahuté’s whereabouts.

A mouse, the bait in the trap, runs off to a secret outpost, from which a telegram is sent to the Rescue Aid Society headquarters in New York City. Bernard and Miss Bianca, the RAS’ elite field agents, are assigned to the mission, interrupting Bernard’s attempt to propose marriage to Bianca.

They go to find Orville the albatross, who aided them previously, but instead meet his brother, Wilbur, whom they convince to fly them to Australia. There, they meet Jake, a hopping mouse who is the RAS’ local regional operative. Jake becomes infatuated with Bianca and flirts with her, much to Bernard’s dismay. He serves as their “tour guide” and protector in search of the boy. Wilbur accidentally bends his spinal column out of shape trying to help them, so Jake sends him to the hospital (an old abandoned ambulance). As Wilbur refuses to undergo surgery and escapes his captors, his back is unintentionally straightened in the struggle with the mouse medical staff. Cured, Wilbur departs in search of his friends.

At McLeach’s hideout, Cody is imprisoned with a number of captured animals after refusing to divulge Marahuté’s whereabouts. Cody attempts to free himself and the animals, but is thwarted by Joanna, McLeach’s pet goanna. Realizing that Marahuté’s eggs are Cody’s weak spot, McLeach tricks Cody into thinking someone else killed Marahuté and releases him, knowing Cody will go to Marahuté’s nest. Bernard, Bianca, and Jake arrive as McLeach gives chase and jump onto his halftrack to follow him. At Marahuté’s nest, the mice try to warn Cody, but just then, Marahuté appears and McLeach captures her, along with Cody, Jake and Bianca. McLeach then sends Joanna to eat Marahuté’s eggs, but Bernard manages to trick her using egg-shaped stones, and she leaves without harming the real eggs. Wilbur arrives at the nest, whereupon Bernard convinces him to sit on the eggs while he goes after McLeach.

McLeach takes his captives to Crocodile Falls, a huge waterfall at the end of the river he threw Cody’s backpack into. He ties Cody up and hangs him over a group of crocodiles, intent on feeding him to them, but Bernard, riding a wild razorback pig he tamed using a horse whispering technique he learned from Jake, arrives and disables McLeach’s vehicle. McLeach then attempts to shoot the rope holding Cody above the water, but Bernard tricks Joanna into crashing into McLeach, sending both of them into the water. The crocodiles attack McLeach and Joanna, while behind them Cody falls into the water as the damaged rope breaks. While Joanna flees, McLeach fends off the crocodiles, but forgets until too late about the waterfall and plunges over it to his death. Bernard dives into the water and holds Cody long enough for Jake and Bianca to free Marahuté, allowing her to save Cody and Bernard just as they go over the waterfall. Bernard, desperate to prevent any further incidents, proposes to Bianca, who eagerly and happily accepts while Jake salutes him with a new-found respect. Safe at last, the group departs for Cody’s home. Meanwhile, Marahuté’s eggs finally hatch, much to Wilbur’s chagrin.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 30th Disney animated feature film and the third released during the Disney Renaissance period, it is based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont who was uncredited in the English version but credited in the French version, and ideas from the 1946 French film of the same name directed by Jean Cocteau.

Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast (voice of Robby Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster and his servants into household objects as punishment for his arrogance, and Belle (voice of Paige O’Hara), a young woman whom he imprisons in his castle to become a prince again. To break the curse, Beast must learn to love Belle and earn her love in return before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose or else the Beast will remain a monster forever.

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One winter’s night, an enchantress disguised as a beggar offers a cold-hearted prince a rose in exchange for shelter. When he refuses, she transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects. She bestows the Beast with a magic mirror before hexing the rose and warning him that, unless he learns to love another and earns their love in return by the time the last petal falls when he turns 21, he and his servants will lose their humanity forever.

Years later, a beautiful young woman named Belle dreams of adventure and brushes off advances from Gaston, a handsome, narcissistic and arrogant hunter. Lost in the forest while traveling to a fair to present his latest invention, Belle’s father Maurice seeks refuge in the Beast’s castle. While the castle’s servants are sympathetic and welcoming of Maurice, the Beast discovers and imprisons him. Belle ventures out in search for him and finds him locked in the castle’s tower. Belle offers to replace her father as the Beast’s prisoner, and the Beast accepts. The Beast takes Maurice outside to the horseless carriage.

Befriending the castle’s servants, Belle is treated to a spectacular dinner. When she wanders into the forbidden West Wing where the rose is kept, the Beast flies into a rage, causing Belle to flee the castle and into the woods. She is attacked by wolves, but the Beast intervenes and gets injured in the process. He begins to develop feelings for her while she nurses his wounds and he delights her by showing his extensive library.

Returning to the village, Maurice tells the townsfolk of Belle’s predicament, but no one believes him. Gaston then bribes Monsieur D’Arque, the warden of the town’s insane asylum to have Maurice locked up if Belle refuses to marry Gaston.

After sharing a romantic dance with the Beast, Belle mentions that she misses her father. The Beast lets her use his magic mirror to check on her father, and she discovers him lying sick in the woods while attempting to rescue her.

The Beast releases her to save Maurice, giving her the mirror to remember him with. Belle rescues Maurice and brings him back to the village where she nurses him back to health. Suddenly, an angry mob led by Gaston comes to Belle’s house and attempts to take Maurice away, thinking his claims of the Beast prove that he is insane. Gaston tries to force Belle to marry him in exchange for her father’s release, but she refuses.

Belle then proves Maurice’s sanity by revealing the Beast to the townsfolk using the magic mirror. Belle angrily confronts Gaston that he is a monster and the Beast is not, enraging Gaston. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston has her thrown into the basement with her father and rallies the villagers to follow him to the castle to kill the Beast. Assisted by Chip, who had stowed away in Belle’s bag, Maurice and Belle escape and rush back to the castle.

The Beast’s servants manage to drive the invading villagers out of the castle. Gaston sneaks away to attack the Beast in his tower. The Beast is too depressed to fight back, but regains his will upon seeing Belle return. He overpowers Gaston but spares his life before reuniting with Belle. Gaston stabs the Beast from behind, loses his footing from the Beast’s thrashing and falls to his death. The Beast appears to die from Gaston’s stab before the last petal falls. When Belle tearfully professes her love to him, the curse is broken, repairing the castle and restoring the Beast’s and servants’ human forms. The Prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom, where they dance happily.

Aladdin

Aladdin is a 1992 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is the 31st Disney animated feature film, and was the fourth produced during the Disney film era known as the Disney Renaissance. It was produced and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, and is based on the Arabic folktale of the same name from One Thousand and One Nights and the French interpretation by Antoine Galland. The film follows Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin, who finds a magic lamp containing a genie. In order to hide the lamp from the Grand vizier, he disguises himself as a wealthy prince, and tries to impress the Sultan and his daughter.

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In the fictional city of Agrabah (which Disney places near the Jordan River), Jafar, the Grand vizier of the Sultan, and his parrot Iago, seek the lamp hidden within the Cave of Wonders, but are told that only a “diamond in the rough” may enter. Jafar identifies a street urchin named Aladdin. Princess Jasmine, who refuses to marry a suitor, temporarily leaves the palace and meets Aladdin and his pet monkey, Abu. Aladdin and Jasmine become friends and eventually fall in love. When the palace guards capture Aladdin on Jafar’s orders, Jasmine confronts Jafar to demand Aladdin’s release, only for Jafar to lie to her that Aladdin has been executed.

Disguised as an old man, Jafar frees Aladdin and Abu from prison, and sends them to the cave, ordering them to retrieve the lamp. There, Aladdin finds a magic carpet and obtains the lamp. Unaware to touch nothing but the lamp, Abu grabs a red jewel, and the cave collapses. Aladdin hands over the lamp to Jafar, who throws both Aladdin and Abu back down into the cave, though not before Abu manages to steal the lamp back. Trapped, Aladdin rubs the lamp and meets the Genie, who lives inside of it. The Genie tells Aladdin that he will grant him three wishes. Aladdin tricks the Genie into freeing themselves from the cave without using a wish, and he uses his first to become “Prince Ali Ababwa” in order to woo Jasmine.

At Iago’s suggestion, Jafar plots to become Sultan by marrying Jasmine. When Aladdin greets Jafar and the Sultan at the palace, Jasmine becomes angry at them. Refusing to tell Jasmine the truth, Aladdin takes Jasmine on a flight on the magic carpet. When she deduces his identity, he convinces her that he dresses as a peasant to escape the stresses of royal life. After sending Jasmine home, Aladdin is tied up, gagged and thrown into the sea by Jafar, but he is rescued from drowning by the Genie with his second wish. Jafar tries to hypnotize the Sultan into agreeing to his marriage to Jasmine, but Aladdin intervenes, exposing his evil plot in the process; however, Jafar spots the lamp and thus discovers Aladdin’s true identity. He flees to his lair, and orders Iago to retrieve the lamp from Aladdin.

Fearing that he will lose Jasmine if the truth is revealed, Aladdin refuses to free the Genie in order to maintain his charade. Iago steals the lamp, and Jafar becomes the Genie’s new master. He uses his first two wishes to usurp the Sultan, and become the world’s most powerful sorcerer, exposing Aladdin’s identity and exiling him, Abu, and the carpet to a frozen wasteland. However, they escape, and return to the palace, where Jafar tries to use his final wish to make Jasmine fall in love with him, but the Genie cannot grant the wish as it is beyond his power. Upon noticing Aladdin, Jasmine pretends the wish has been granted to distract Jafar, and Aladdin attempts to retrieve the lamp. Jafar notices Aladdin, traps Jasmine inside an hourglass, and overpowers Aladdin and his friends with his magic. After Aladdin rescues Jasmine out of the hourglass, he tricks Jafar into using his last wish to become an all-powerful genie; now bound to his new lamp, Jafar ends up trapped inside it, taking Iago with him.

With the palace and kingdom returned to normal, the Genie transports Jafar’s lamp to the Cave of Wonders, and advises Aladdin use his third wish to regain his royal title so the law will allow him to stay with Jasmine. Realizing that he has to be himself, Aladdin decides to keep his promise and frees the Genie. Realizing Aladdin and Jasmine’s love, the Sultan changes the law to allow Jasmine to marry whom she chooses. The Genie leaves to explore the world, while Aladdin and Jasmine start their new life together.

The Lion King

The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd Disney animated feature film, and the fifth animated film produced during a period known as the Disney Renaissance.

The Lion King tells the story of Simba (Swahili for lion), a young lion who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after Simba’s paternal uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible and flees into exile. Upon maturation living with two wastrels, Simba is given some valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful King.

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In the Pride Lands of Africa, a pride of lions rule over the animal kingdom from Pride Rock. King Mufasa’s and Queen Sarabi’s newborn son, Simba (whose name is Swahili for lion), is presented to the gathering animals by Rafiki the baboon (with the colorful facial marking of a mandrill) who serves as the shaman and advisor. Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of kingship and the “circle of life”, which connects all living things. Mufasa’s younger brother, Scar, covets the throne and plots to eliminate Mufasa and Simba, so he may become king. He tricks Simba and his best friend Nala—to whom Simba is betrothed—into exploring a forbidden elephants’ graveyard, where they are attacked by three spotted hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, who are in league with Scar. Mufasa is alerted about the incident by his majordomo, the hornbill Zazu, and rescues the cubs. Though upset with Simba, Mufasa forgives him and explains that the great kings of the past watch over them from the night sky, from which he will one day watch over Simba.

Scar sets a trap for his brother and nephew, luring Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample him. He informs Mufasa of Simba’s peril, knowing the king will rush to save his son. Mufasa saves Simba but ends up hanging perilously from the gorge’s edge. Scar refuses to help Mufasa, instead sending him falling to his death. He then convinces Simba that the tragedy was Simba’s own fault and advises him to leave the kingdom. He orders the hyenas to kill the cub, but Simba escapes. Scar tells the pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede and steps forward as the new king, allowing his three hyena minions and the rest of their large pack to live in the Pride Lands.

Simba collapses in a desert and is rescued by Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, who are fellow outcasts. Simba grows up in the jungle with his two new friends, living a carefree life under the motto “hakuna matata” (“no worries” in Swahili). Now a young adult, Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba reunite and fall in love, and she urges him to return home, telling him the Pride Lands have become a drought-stricken wasteland under Scar’s reign. Feeling guilty over his father’s death, Simba refuses and storms off. He encounters Rafiki, who tells him that Mufasa’s spirit lives on in Simba. Simba is visited by the ghost of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him he must take his rightful place as king. Realizing that he can no longer run from his past, Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands.

Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar, who had just struck Sarabi. Scar taunts Simba over his role in Mufasa’s death and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he murdered Mufasa. Enraged, Simba pins Scar to the ground and forces him to reveal the truth to the rest of the pride. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses fend off the hyenas while Scar, attempting to escape, is cornered by Simba at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame the hyenas for his actions; Simba spares his life, but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever. Scar attacks his nephew, but Simba manages to toss him from the top of the rock. Scar survives the fall, but is attacked and killed by the hyenas, who overheard his attempt to betray them. Afterwards, Simba takes over the kingship as rain begins to fall.

Later, with Pride Rock restored to its usual state, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala’s newborn cub to the assembled animals, continuing the circle of life.

Pocahontas

Pocahontas is a 1995 American animated musical romantic drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. The 33rd Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg and is loosely based on the life of the Native American woman of the same name. It portrays a fictionalized account of her historical encounter with Englishman John Smith and the Jamestown settlers that arrived from the Virginia Company.

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In 1607, the Susan Constant sails to the New World from London, carrying English settlers from the Virginia Company. On board are Captain John Smith and the voyage’s leader Governor Ratcliffe, who seeks gold to bring him wealth and status. Along the way, the Susan Constant is caught in a North Atlantic storm, and Smith saves a young, inexperienced crewmate named Thomas from drowning. As they approach the New World, the settlers, including Smith, talk of adventure, finding gold, fighting ‘Injuns’, and perhaps settling in the new land.

In the Powhatan tribe in Tsenacommacah, North America, Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, fears being possibly wed to Kocoum, a brave warrior whom she sees as too serious for her own free-spirited personality. Powhatan gives Pocahontas her mother’s necklace as a present. Pocahontas, along with her friends, the raccoon Meeko and hummingbird Flit, visit Grandmother Willow, a spiritual talking willow tree, and speaks of a dream involving a spinning arrow, and her confusion regarding what her path in life should be. Grandmother Willow then alerts Pocahontas to the arriving English.

Ratcliffe has Jamestown built in a wooded clearing and immediately has the crewmen dig for gold. Smith departs to explore the wilderness and encounters Pocahontas. They quickly bond, fascinated by each other’s worlds and end up falling in love, despite Powhatan’s orders to keep away from the English after Kocoum and other warriors engage them in a fight. Meanwhile, Meeko meets Percy, Ratcliffe’s pet pug, and becomes the bane of his existence. Pocahontas introduces Smith to Grandmother Willow and avoids two other crewmen, but Pocahontas’s best friend Nakoma discovers her relationship with Smith and warns Kocoum. Ratcliffe also learns of Smith’s encounters and angrily warns Smith against sparing any natives he comes across on pain of death.

Later, Smith and Pocahontas meet with Grandmother Willow and plan to bring peace between the colonists and the tribe. Smith and Pocahontas share a kiss, while Kocoum and Thomas, sent by Ratcliffe to spy on Smith, witness from afar. Enraged, Kocoum, screaming a battle cry, attacks and attempts to kill Smith, but Thomas intervenes with his musket and kills Kocoum, who destroys Pocahontas’ necklace in the process. Smith orders Thomas to leave just before the tribesmen come and capture Smith while Kocoum’s body is taken away. Enraged at Kocoum’s death, Powhatan declares war on the English, beginning with Smith’s execution at sunrise.

Thomas reaches Jamestown safely at night and warns the crewmen of Smith’s capture. Ratcliffe then rallies his men to battle using this as an excuse to annihilate the tribe and find their non-existent gold. That same night, Powhatan also orders his men to prepare for battle. A desperate Pocahontas visits Grandmother Willow, where Meeko hands her Smith’s compass. Pocahontas realizes Smith’s compass was the spinning arrow from her real life encounter, which leads to her destiny. Just then morning comes, and Powhatan and his tribe forcibly bring Smith to a cliff overlooking a clearing for execution. Meanwhile, Ratcliffe leads the armed colonists to the cliff to fight Powhatan’s warriors. Just as Powhatan is about to kill Smith, Pocahontas stops him and finally convinces him to end the fighting between the two groups. Everyone accepts gratefully, except Ratcliffe, who tries to shoot Powhatan dead in anger, but inadvertently shoots Smith instead when he shields Powhatan. Ratcliffe is then arrested by his crewmen, who turn on him for hurting their comrade. In the end, Smith is forced to return home to receive medical treatment, while Ratcliffe is also sent back to England to face punishment for his crimes. Smith asks Pocahontas to come with him, but she chooses to stay with her tribe. Meeko and Percy, now friends, give Pocahontas her mother’s necklace completely fixed. Smith leaves without Pocahontas but with Powhatan’s blessing to return in the future. The film ends with Pocahontas standing atop a cliff, watching the ship carrying Smith depart.

Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. The 34th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on the 1831 novel of the same name written by Victor Hugo. The plot centers on Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his struggle to gain acceptance into society.

Produced during a period known as the Disney Renaissance, the film is considered to be one of Disney’s darkest animated films as its narrative explores such mature themes as infanticide, lust, damnation, genocide, and sin, despite the changes made from the original source material in order to ensure a G rating received by the MPAA.

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In 1482 Paris, Clopin, a gypsy puppeteer, narrates the origin of the titular hunchback. A group of gypsies sneak illegally into Paris, but are ambushed by Judge Claude Frollo, Paris’ Minister of Justice, and his soldiers. A gypsy woman in the group attempts to flee with her deformed baby, but Frollo chases and kills her outside Notre Dame. He tries to kill the baby as well, but the cathedral’s archdeacon intervenes and accuses Frollo of murdering an innocent woman. To atone for his sin, Frollo reluctantly agrees to raise the deformed child in Notre Dame as his son, naming him “Quasimodo”.

Twenty years later, Quasimodo develops into a kind yet isolated young man who has lived inside the cathedral his entire life. A trio of living stone gargoyles—Victor, Hugo, and Laverne—serve as Quasimodo’s only company, and encourage him to attend the annually-held Festival of Fools. Despite Frollo’s warnings that he would be shunned for his deformity, Quasimodo attends the festival and is celebrated for his awkward appearance, only to be humiliated by the crowd after two of Frollo’s guards start a riot. Frollo refuses to help Quasimodo, but Esmeralda, a kind gypsy, intervenes by freeing the hunchback, and uses a magic trick to evade arrest. Frollo confronts Quasimodo and sends him back inside the cathedral.

Esmeralda follows Quasimodo inside, only to be followed herself by Captain Phoebus of Frollo’s guard. Phoebus refuses to arrest her for alleged witchcraft inside Notre Dame and instead has her confined to the cathedral. Esmeralda finds and befriends Quasimodo, who helps her escape Notre Dame out of gratitude for defending him. She entrusts Quasimodo a pendant containing a map to the gypsies’ hideout, the Court of Miracles. Frollo soon develops lustful feelings for Esmeralda and, upon realizing them, begs the Virgin Mary to save him from her “spell” to avoid eternal damnation. When Frollo discovers that she escaped, he instigates a citywide manhunt for her which involves setting fire to countless houses in his way. Phoebus is appalled by Frollo’s evil and defies him, and Frollo sentences him to death. While fleeing, Phoebus is struck by an arrow and falls into the River Seine, but Esmeralda rescues him and takes him to Notre Dame for refuge. The gargoyles encourage Quasimodo to confess his feelings for Esmeralda, but he is heartbroken to discover she and Phoebus have fallen in love.

Frollo returns to Notre Dame later that night and discovers that Quasimodo helped Esmeralda escape. He bluffs to Quasimodo, saying that he knows about the Court of Miracles and that he intends to attack at dawn with 1,000 men. Using the map Esmeralda gave him, Quasimodo and Phoebus find the court to warn the gypsies, only for Frollo to follow them and capture all the gypsies present.

Frollo prepares to burn Esmeralda at the stake after she rejects his advances, but Quasimodo rescues her and brings her to the cathedral. Phoebus releases the gypsies and rallies the Paris citizens against Frollo and his men, who try to break into the cathedral. Quasimodo and the gargoyles pour molten lead onto the streets to ensure no one enters, but Frollo successfully manages to get inside. He pursues Quasimodo and Esmeralda to the balcony where he and Quasimodo fight and both fall over the edge. Frollo falls to his death in the molten lead, while Quasimodo is caught by Phoebus on a lower floor. Afterward, Quasimodo comes to accept that Phoebus and Esmeralda are in love, and he gives them his blessing. The two encourage him to leave the cathedral into the outside world, where the citizens hail him as a hero and accept him into society.

Hercules

Hercules is a 1997 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. The 35th Disney animated feature film and the eighth animated film produced during the Disney Renaissance, the film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The film is loosely based on the legendary hero Heracles (known in the film by his Roman name, Hercules), the son of Zeus, in Greek mythology.

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In Ancient Greece, after imprisoning the Titans beneath the ocean, the rulers of the Greek gods, Zeus and his wife Hera, have a son named Hercules on Mount Olympus. While the other gods are joyful, Zeus’ jealous brother Hades plots to overthrow Zeus and rule Olympus. Turning to the Fates for help, Hades learns that in eighteen years, a planetary alignment will allow him to locate and free the Titans to conquer Olympus, but only if Hercules does not interfere. Hades sends his minions Pain and Panic to dispose of Hercules. The two succeed at kidnapping the infant and feeding him a formula that turns him mortal, but fail to remove his superhuman strength before Hercules is found and adopted by the farmers Amphitryon and Alcmene.

Years later, the teenage Hercules becomes an outcast due to his strength, and wonders where he came from. After his foster parents reveal the necklace they found him with, Hercules decides to visit the temple of Zeus for answers. The temple’s statue of Zeus comes to life and reveals all to Hercules, telling him that he can regain his godhood by becoming a true hero. Zeus sends Hercules and his forgotten infant friend Pegasus to find the satyr Philoctetes—”Phil” for short—who is known for training heroes. They meet Phil, who has retired due to numerous disappointments, but Hercules inspires him to follow his dream to train a true hero that will be recognized by the gods. Phil trains Hercules into a potential hero, and then they headed towards Thebes. On the way, they meet Megara—”Meg” for short—a sarcastic damsel whom Hercules saves from the centaur Nessus. After Hercules and the others leave, Meg is revealed to be Hades’ minion, who sold her soul to him to save an unfaithful lover.

Arriving in Thebes, Hercules is turned down by the downtrodden citizens until Meg appears, saying that two boys have become trapped in a gorge. Hercules saves them, unaware that they are Pain and Panic in disguise, and unwittingly releases the Hydra. Hercules defeats it and becomes a celebrated hero, but despite Hercules’ growing fame and defeating every subsequent monster Hades unleashes, Zeus tells him he is not yet a “true” hero. Saddened and frustrated, Hercules spends a day out with Meg, who falls in love with him. Hades learns of this and on the eve of his takeover, he holds Meg hostage and offers her in exchange for Hercules surrendering his powers for a day. On the condition that Meg will be unharmed, he accepts, and is heartbroken when Hades reveals that Meg was working for him.

Hades unleashes the Titans, who climb Olympus and capture the gods, while a Cyclops goes to Thebes to kill Hercules. Hercules defeats the cyclops; Meg then saves him from a falling pillar and is mortally injured. This breaks Hades’ promise that Meg would not be harmed, and allows Hercules to regain his strength. Hercules and Pegasus fly to Olympus where they free the gods and vanquish the Titans, but Meg dies before he returns to her.

With Meg’s soul now Hades’ property, Hercules breaks into the Underworld and offers to free Meg from the Styx in exchange for his own life. His willingness to sacrifice himself restores his godhood and immortality before the life-draining river can kill him; he rescues Meg and punches Hades into the Styx, where irate souls pull him under. After reviving Meg, she and Hercules are summoned to Olympus, where Zeus and Hera welcome their son home. However, Hercules chooses to remain on Earth with Meg in lieu of living on Olympus. Hercules and his friends return to Thebes, where they watch Zeus etch Hercules’ image into the stars to commemorate his heroism.

Mulan

Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical action adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, and was Disney’s 36th animated feature.

The film’s plot takes place in China during the Han dynasty, where Fa Mulan, daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou, impersonates a man to take her father’s place during a general conscription to counter a Hun invasion.

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The Huns, who are led by the ruthless Shan Yu, invade Han China by breaching the Great Wall. The Chinese emperor orders a general mobilization, with conscription notices requiring one man from each family to join the Chinese army. When Fa Mulan hears that her elderly father Fa Zhou, the only man in their family and an army veteran, is once more to go to war, she becomes anxious and apprehensive due to his weakening health. Taking her father’s old armor, she disguises herself as a man so that she can enlist instead of her parent. The family quickly learn of her departure, and Mulan’s grandmother prays to the family ancestors for Mulan’s safety. The ancestors order their “great stone dragon” to protect Mulan; a small dragon named Mushu, a disgraced former guardian, is sent to awaken the stone dragon, but accidentally destroys it in the process, which Mushu conceals from the ancestors and resolves to protect Mulan himself.

Reporting to the training camp, Mulan is able to pass as a man, although her military skills are initially lacking. Mushu provides clumsy guidance to Mulan on how to behave like a man. Under the command of Captain Li Shang, she and her fellow recruits Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po gradually become trained warriors. Desiring to see Mulan succeed, Mushu creates a fake order from Shang’s father, General Li, ordering Shang to follow the main imperial army into the mountains. The reinforcements set out, but arrive at a burnt-out encampment and discover that General Li and his troops have been massacred by the Huns.

As the reinforcements solemnly leave the mountains, they are ambushed by the Huns, but Mulan cleverly uses a cannon to cause an avalanche, which buries most of the invaders. An enraged Shan Yu slashes her in the chest, and her deception is revealed when the wound is bandaged. Instead of executing Mulan as the law requires, Shang spares her life, but nonetheless expels her from the army. Mulan is left to follow alone as the recruits depart for the imperial city to report the news of the Huns’ destruction. However, it is discovered that several Hun warriors, including Shan Yu, have survived the avalanche, and Mulan catches sight of them as they make their way to the city, intent on capturing the emperor.

At the imperial city, Mulan is unable to convince Shang about Shan Yu’s survival. The Huns capture the emperor and seize the palace. With Mulan’s help, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po pose as concubines, and are able to enter the palace. With the help of Shang, they defeat Shan Yu’s men; as Shang prevents Shan Yu from assassinating the Emperor, Mulan lures the Hun leader onto the roof, where she engages him in single combat. Meanwhile, acting on Mulan’s instructions and signal, Mushu fires a large skyrocket at Shan Yu. The rocket strikes and propels him into a fireworks launching tower, where he dies in the resulting explosion.

Mulan is praised by the Emperor and the assembled inhabitants of the city, who bow to her in an unprecedented honor. While she accepts the crest of the Emperor and the sword of Shan Yu as gifts, she politely declines his offer to be his advisor, and asks to return to her family. Mulan returns home and presents these gifts to her father, who is overjoyed to have Mulan back safely. Having become enamored with Mulan, Shang soon arrives under the pretext of returning her helmet, but accepts the family’s invitation to stay for dinner. Mushu is reinstated as a Fa family guardian by the ancestors amid a returning celebration.