by Breelyn Sirk

Created on: May 23, 2009   Last Updated: October 23, 2009

Each generation since the dawn of Disney has had prominent Disney movies. For the oldest generation there was "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Pinocchio". The classics that baby boomers remember most from their childhood are most likely "Cinderella" or "Peter Pan". The children of those baby boomers have the beloved "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King" forefront in their memories. These extremely successful movies are what people associate with the name Disney, but what about all of the other wonderful Disney movies that tend to fall in the cracks of people's memories?

"The Fox and the Hound" is a classic and heart touching tale of innocent friendship between a young orphan fox named Todd, and a hound dog puppy named Copper. This movie drifts from people's memories because there are similarities to "Bambi", but the storyline is very much different and just as special as "Bambi". The story dynamic changes when the two friends enter adulthood and their friendship is twisted into rivalry as Coppers owner, Amos, pushes the two to fall into their natural categories of hunter vs. prey,culminating in a suspenseful chase scene. In one of the most poignant endings ever in a movie, Todd gets injured and can no longer run, Amos raises his gun to shoot Todd but Copper steps over Todd, shielding him from the aim of Amos's gun, Amos in disbelief lowers his gun because he is not willing to kill Copper in order to kill Todd. This ending alone makes "The Fox and the Hound" a classic because it a profound portrayal of true friendship, Copper and Todd care for each other too much and refuse to sacrifice their bond, even if it means Copper must go against his supposed natural role in the world.

"A Bug's Life" is another great Disney movie that is widely forgotten and underrated. It was the second Pixar movie released after its debut with "Toy Story", so it unfairly has fallen into the role of the middle child of Pixar movies. It made children and adults start to look at ants, ladybugs, and all kinds of other insects in a whole new light. It is a delightful tale of a colony of ants that are forced into giving a large harvest of food to a group of menacing grasshoppers. One eccentric ant in the colony, Flick, comes up with the idea that someone should leave the colony to find larger bugs so they can fight against the grasshoppers and he volunteers himself to make the journey. The colony doesn't expect Flick to succeed, and they are partially right because Flick ends up bringing circus bugs to help them. These circus bugs are essentially misfits just like him, so he convinces them to stay and help the colony despite the misunderstanding. In the end , Flick defeats the callous leader of the grasshoppers, liberating the ants from the grasshoppers . This movie is a timeless story of the underdogs winning, and a lesson that even when no one believes in you, you have to always believe in yourself because no matter what size you are, you still can be strong and triumph.

Learn more about this author, Breelyn Sirk.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.