How is this movie not on the AFI's top 10 animated movies? - The Little Mermaid (1989) Discussion

[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 8 years ago

The AFI top ten is extremely mainstream and based more on historical significance than actual film quality. That said, The Little Mermaid would make far more sense on this list than The Lion King.

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[–] weijaytan-2015 8 years ago

Yeah. The Lion King was meh to me really. I'll say, tragedy was never my favorite word. Now that we have Zootopia, it is a great new Disney film too. But the Little Mermaid will ALWAYS be my favorite from the Renaissance Era, we all have this film to thank when it comes to reigniting Disney, then came along Beauty and the Beast, The (ahem) Lion King, Aladdin, and Frozen. You know the rest.

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[–] A-zone 7 years ago

I think "The Lion King" is the best 2D animated Disney movie. I feel it deserves the spot it has on that list.

"Frozen" and "Moana" are the real overrated animated movies.

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[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 7 years ago

I never bought into the Frozen hype. To me, it's Disney's lastest cash cow.

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[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 7 years ago

Before I back up my sentiment, let me go ahead and say that Frozen and Moana have nothing to do with this topic and are irrelevant to mention here.

Now then, making a top ten of animated films is quite a difficult task as animation is not a genre and therefore it's virtually impossible to encompass all of animated films in a tiny list. So to judge a list like this fairly, we have to get a degree of it's intentions. Film quality is highly unlikely given some of the inclusions and exclusions here, so that's off the table. Even if such were the case, The Lion King has always had difficulty standing up to objective criticism. The most likely attribute that is strongest on this list is historical significance. The Lion King fits that distinction the least of the films listed. It wouldn't exist if not for the successes of previous films and it doesn't do anything significant to differentiate from said predecessors. The Little Mermaid is the beginning of a new era in animation and therefore has far more significance in regards to it, hence why it makes far more sense for a list like this. Now even with it's inclusion, this list would still be flawed, but such is the difficulty of compiling an animated films list regardless of the criteria.

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[–] Andthatismytwocents 7 years ago

Could not have said it better myself

Also NO ANIMATED film would exist if not for Snow White

and yet it does not get much respect either

Yes Black Cauldron predates Little Mermaid and it failed with critics and the typical film goer at the time Where as Ariel did NOT fail

Also The Black Cauldron was based on a series of fantasy novels before the term would be coined 20 years later

And that's my two cents

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[–] magnusplin 7 years ago

overrated lion movie.

Still better than Frozen (AKA Froverrated).

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[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 7 years ago

I probably shouldn't have used the word overrated, I've edited my post accordingly so people will stop making a fuss over it. I still think my point stands though, as my above response to A-zone explains. Also, Frozen has nothing to do with this topic as it's not on the list in question nor should it be on such a list.

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[–] Weber4278 8 years ago

I think Cinderella deserves to be on the list because like it or hate it...the film was a big hit when it came out, at a time when Disney desperately needed a hit and was in danger of completely going bankrupt, so I think it deserves its spot on the list.

But WHAT THE HECK are Shrek and Finding Nemo doing on their!? 

Good films they may be but....how are they important enough to win a spot in the top 10 animated films of all time? 

What about 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', it was the first feature length stop motion film, like 'Snow White' to Traditional Animation and 'Toy Story' to Computer Animation, Nightmares importance to its genre (stop motion) should have earned it a spot on the list.

Or what about 'Aladdin'...I believe its the second highest grossing film of the Renissance era after 'The Lion King'. If popularity is important for the list, Aladdin is pretty big.

But as the film that started Disney's second golden age (Disney Renissance) I 100% agree that 'The Little Mermaid' should be on that list!

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[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 8 years ago

You are definitely correct, Cinderella was a make or break film for Disney at the time, it had to make money or else. I would like to respond on a couple other issues with your post though.

But WHAT THE HECK are Shrek and Finding Nemo doing on their!?

Love them or hate them but these are pretty much the two films that cemented CG as the dominant form of animation in America. Toy Story may have been first, but these two films were huge at the time of their release and dealt a huge blow to mainstream 2D animation that it hasn't recovered from to this day.

What about 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', it was the first feature length stop motion film

It's arguable what came first, but stop motion is at least as old as hand drawn animation. The oldest and second oldest surviving animated film is The Tale of the Fox from 1930. Since then, there has been quite a few full length stop motion films long before Nightmare Before Christmas was created. Sure, for the most part they weren't mainstream successes, but that shouldn't be the only thing determining a film's long term significance.

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[–] Weber4278 8 years ago

I stand corrected then with regards to Nightmare being the 'first' , but I still think its importance to the genre of Stop Motion (regardless of how old it is) should earn it a spot on the list.

Just my opinion.

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[–] littlemermaid22 8 years ago

I'm sorry if I offended you about Cinderella. I don't mind the character but the film bores me.

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[–] Weber4278 8 years ago

You didn't offend me, everyone is entitled to their opinions, personally I don't think Shrek or Nemo should be on the list but that's just MY opinion.

These types of lists tend to be all very subjective anyway, ask ten people to make a similar list and they will all be a bit different.

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[–] Andthatismytwocents 8 years ago

Why???????

AFI like the Academy of Motion Pictures and 50% (at least)of Hollywood

ARE IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Second already covered in my first statement

Disney has a love/HATE relationship with this film

Can you say Jeffery Katzenburg?

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[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 7 years ago

You could also argue that the American Film Institute justifies controversy similar to the controversy surrounding the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 8 years ago

I think it should've been on AFI's Top 10 Animated Films list. Also, I'm surprised AFI didn't do a Top 10 Super Hero films list for that matter.

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[–] ztmillers-2 8 years ago

Yeah, it's a sin, but very few seem to comprehend the significance of the film, even if it did save animation in the 80's just as much as Cinderella did in the 50's. I'd imagine it has something to do with being overshadowed by Beauty and the Beast all the time. Even in professional circles, animated films have a stigma for being only for children. It's hard to get behind Little Mermaid when Beauty and the Beast came out only two years later.

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[–] littlemermaid22 8 years ago

So true! The Little Mermaid & Beauty & the Beast are my two favorite Disney movies but I agree The Little Mermaid tends to get overshadowed by Beauty & the Beast. I think there is a lot of Disney movies that get overshadowed such as Sleeping Beauty, Lady & the Tramp, & Alice in Wonderland & no offense if you like The Lion King but I think that movie is the reason why a lot of other great Disney movies get overshadowed. I personally think The Lion King is highly overrated.

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[–] otness_e 8 years ago

Agreed regarding The Little Mermaid, and maybe to some degree The Lion King being overrated. Can't exactly say the same regarding Beauty and the Beast, though. If anything, maybe not as overrated as The Lion King (even if it DID do its villain far better justice than BATB did), but Beauty and the Beast certainly was overrated due to there being quite a bit of problems with that movie.

Shame that AFI's top 10 animated movies excluded TLM, though. You'd think it would have earned a spot considering the role it played in revitalizing Disney.

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 8 years ago

I'm surprised AFI snubbed The Nightmare Before Christmas from their Top 10 Animated films list. For that matter, why they left Who Framed Roger Rabbit off their top 10 Fantasy films is a load of BS too. I can also see where you're coming from with The Lion King. While I like the film, I don't rate it quite as highly as I use to since I never cared for Adult Simba and even when I was little, I liked cub Simba better. Matthew Broderick's portrayal of Simba felt so empty to me.

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[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 7 years ago

I read on Wikipedia that The Little Mermaid was nominated for several lists by the AFI but didn't make any of them which I think is a load of bull. Also, Beauty and the Beast was nominated for the AFI's 100 Years 100 Movies list, but didn't make the list. That was also a bummer.

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[–] racy1285 7 years ago

Yeah, it's a sin, but very few seem to comprehend the significance of the film, even if it did save animation in the 80's just as much as Cinderella did in the 50's.

That right there is completely false. The Little Mermaid did not save Animation in the 80s. Animation was already saved years before that by Don Bluth. Thanks to his three films Secret of Nihm, American Tale, and Land Before Time. Little Mermaid deserves credit for putting Disney back on top. But this isnt a Disney list.

Im more bothered that Secret of Nihm didnt make the list actually. At least put one of Don Bluths films up there.

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[–] ztmillers-2 7 years ago

More like Don Bluth kept animation on life support. There was definitely a pre-Little Mermaid animation world and post-Little Mermaid animation world. The Disney Renaissance is what put animation on even ground with live-action entertainment. None of those three movies broke the top 10 grossing films in their year, and you wouldn't hear of animated films being nominated for best picture until after Little Mermaid.

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[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 7 years ago

Secret of NIMH, Little Mermaid, and Nightmare Before Christmas all getting left off the AFI's Top Ten Animated films lists is pretty surreal. It's pretty weird that the only animated film on the list that isn't a Disney film is Shrek and even that feels odd since Shrek mocked a lot of Disney classics. Don't know why that's odd to me, but for some reason it just is.

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[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 7 years ago

If we're going this route, Steven Spielberg is the man who deserves the credit for saving mainstream animation. Without his backing, Don Bluth's films don't become the hits they were. The Secret of NIMH, which Don Bluth and Gary Goldman did themselves, was a big failure at the box office almost ending their career. Also, it was thanks to Spielberg's connections that Roger Rabbit was able to get the different cartoon licenses as he was a big supporter of the film. It's also the Roger Rabbit money that funded The Little Mermaid. Back to the list, as I said earlier, it's difficult to make a list like this without specific criteria to go by.

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[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 7 years ago

Another thought that just came to mind is, maybe The Prince of Egypt could've been on AFI's Top 10 Animated Films but from what I've heard it wasn't nominated which it should've justified since Secret of NIMH another well crafted but sadly underrated animated film got nominated but didn't make the list. Maybe for that matter The Last Unicorn should've been on the list too. I feel Secret of NIMH might've been snubbed since Bluth allegedly, as Ralph Bakshi said, left Disney to do Disney.

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