Munir's Disney Retrospective -- Silver Age (Part 3) Introduction

Last Week's: Munir's Disney Retrospective -- Animated Classic #19: The Jungle Book (1967)

Silver Age (1950-1977)
The 70s

Overview

With Walt gone, the animation studio entered the 70s filled with uncertainty. The “Nine Old Men” took charge of the studio but it's undeniable that some of the ‘magic’ was lost in this decade. Carried by the motto “What Would Walt Do?" (a motto that was used until the mid-80s when the company made big changes and went for a different direction, the animators played it “safe” and produced animated features that, while fun, didn't break new ground story-wise or technologically speaking. Many refer to this decade as the beginning of the “Dark Age” that was prevalent at the company until the late 80s, but I think that, while the films released in this era can’t (for the most part) surpass their predecessors, they were still made by the same men and women that made all the Walt-era classics and are pretty entertaining and often heartfelt too. For that reason, these films represent the final batch of the classic era that started in the 1930s with Snow White.

Tomorrow: Animated Classic #20 Review: The Aristocats (1970)