A confused film

I remember first seeing RAGGEDY ANN & ANDY when I was about eight. I still love it. But viewing it now, it's just kind of odd.

Researching the character, I learned that she was created just before World War I. That's within my GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S lifetime! Yet the 1977 movie looks like it's set sometime between the 1920s and the 1950s, and throws in plenty of (largely gratuitous) escapist entertainment and schtick that I highly doubt the doll's creators, Johnny and Marcella Gruelle, ever had in mind. I can definitely see the embryo of later animated films in this: ALADDIN (1992), most obviously, and also maybe SHREK (2001).

At the same time, RAGGEDY ANN & ANDY looks pretty tame - almost quaint - compared to animated films from the 1990s onwards. It's a weird experience watching something that's obviously trying to be gimmicky and "fun" but still wants to respect its source material and remain timeless. If you tried to do an animated movie like it today, it'd get relegated to television, and not even one of the major networks. It would probably be lucky to show up on the Disney Channel.

I guess a film like this is inevitably going to break down if you overanalyze it ("What's 'The Greedy' doing in this? He's not a traditional character!"). But it's hard, if you know the history of film and pop culture in general, to watch something from a bygone era and implicitly make value judgments about it.