The Disney Animated Canon in MyVMK!

Karalora

Well-Known Member
#1
Suppose you wanted to decorate a room or create a ride to function as a "Disney Animated Canon Museum." Just how far would you get with the furnishings that have been released in MyVMK? Let's find out, starting with the first spate of movies that comprise the original Golden Age!

(Note: I'm only considering rooms and furni--including posters--in this analysis. Costumes and pins are another story.)

Part 1: The Golden Age
Walt Disney took the world by storm when he released the first full-color animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937. Suddenly the sky was the limit when it came to what animation could accomplish as an art form. All five of the films that constitute the original Golden Age of Disney are well-known and beloved today. But how have they fared in our wonderful world of MyVMK?

1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--We have several items evoking this movie, though they all seem to be related to the Evil Queen rather than Snow White or the Dwarfs--the Heartless Hamper (in a variety of colors), Evil Queen's Mirror, Evil Queen's Candle Holder, and Poison Apple Pedestal.

1940: Pinocchio--The only item I can think of is the Pinocchio Easter egg. Are there any others?

1940: Fantasia--This is another movie that has a related Easter egg (Sorcerer Mickey) but seems to have no other direct representation as furniture...unless I have missed something.
EDIT: CurleeQ reminded me about the Chernabog carpet! I can't imagine why I forgot, since I have several of them myself. Thanks!
UPDATE: February 2017 is Fantasia Month, with new items galore! Wonderful!

1941: Dumbo--Some of the Midway themed items might work, but they're not specifically Dumbo-related.
UPDATE: The Dumbo egg has emerged after all for Easter 2016!

1942: Bambi--This movie has not been honored with any furni at all as far as I am aware.
UPDATE: As of Easter 2016, we have a Thumper Pet Base to cuten up our rooms!

Conclusion: Everyone loves fairy tales and villains, but Disney's earliest animated films are sadly underrepresented in MyVMK.

Up next: the Package Era!
 
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Karalora

Well-Known Member
#2
Part 2: The Package Era
World War 2 basically shut down the foreign market for Disney films, forcing the studio to scale back. They managed to stay in business--barely--by producing a series of "package films" consisting of several short subjects or two "featurettes" apiece, with some sort of framing device or unifying theme justifying their release under a single film title. Not many people remember these titles nowadays, although the individual segments are easily snipped apart for broadcast or repackaging on video and many are still well-known.

1942: Saludos Amigos

1944: The Three Caballeros

1946: Make Mine Music

1947: Fun and Fancy Free

1948: Melody Time

1949: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad--To the best of my knowledge, this is the only film from this era to have any representation as MyVMK furniture. The Mr. Toad Ride Start and Ride Teleporter are unambiguous...and the flaming jack-o-lantern appearing in some of the Halloween event rooms has been confirmed to be the Headless Horseman's fiery pumpkin!

Conclusion: The package films do not have a very strong presence in the collective consciousness of contemporary Disney fans. It's no surprise that they are so poorly represented in MyVMK...still, the sheer number of individual segments means there's a lot of untapped potential here![DOUBLEPOST=1445681556][/DOUBLEPOST]

Part 3: The Silver Age (Second Golden Age)


By the dawn of the Fifties, the package films weren't cutting it anymore. Walt decided to gamble on a second classic fairy tale and hope history would repeat itself. The gamble paid off immensely, launching a new wave of animated triumphs that are beloved to this day...and this batch has some solid representation in our game!

1950: Cinderella--We've got Glass Slipper Seats, Pumpkin Carriage Chairs, and the Royal Ride parts! (There's also the Crystal Easter Egg, but that has more to do with the live-action version that came out this year.)

1951: Alice in Wonderland--Now we're talking! With an entire in-game dark ride to draw from, we've been blessed with loads of furnishings that reflect this movie. There are also the Tea Cup Seats, card carpets, Queen of Hearts Stretch Throne, White Rabbit Easter Egg, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party Guest Room itself!
EDIT: I would be remiss if I didn't mention the brand-new Tea Cup Mini Chairs and glossy Mushroom Chairs in a variety of colors!

1953: Peter Pan--This is the other one where the presence of a dark ride in the game means a plethora of related furni items have been created...and most of them have been released to the players! I guess Wonderland and Neverland are the places to be!
EDIT: Fantasyland Month Revisited has brought us an entirely new Peter Pan prop--a Big Ben tower rising out of the clouds (in three pieces).
UPDATE: How about that Peter Pan Tsum egg?

1955: Lady and the Tramp--It may not have quite the glamour of a Princess movie, but this film is still known as one of the great all-time animated romances, with what might be the most famous "first date" ever put on screen! Accordingly, the in-game items are all romantic in nature--a Cupid fountain, barrel with a checkered tablecloth, and candle in a wine bottle. There's also the Lady and the Tramp "bumper sticker" (actually a poster) that has been around since the original VMK was launched.

1959: Sleeping Beauty--With a Maleficent guest room, Stone Thrones, Briarstone, Prince Philip Coat Hook, Wall Torch, two-colored Aurora Easter Egg, and now a new infusion of Maleficent items, we're pretty well covered here. It's also worth noting that the Dream Suite Guest Room plays "Once Upon a Dream."
UPDATE: The Maleggicent is here!

Conclusion: Disney's Silver Age is where MyVMK really takes off in the furniture department! No complaints here!
 
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Tohrukun

Well-Known Member
#3
@Karalora why is this just limited to furni?
theres a huge presence of disney classic films in myvmk- especially with tsums!
fantasia - chernabog, sorcerer mickey, pegasus
bambi tsum

also:
sorcerer mickey hat
dumbo cutie
bambi cutie
snow white hairstyle
villains pins - evil queen, stromboli (pinocchio), ringmaster (dumbo), etc
mr. toad magic
lady & the tramp vday pin
castle pin set - includes kings castle from cinderella and king stefans castle from sleeping beauty
drink me magic
pixie magic
peter pan hat
maleficent hat
 

Karalora

Well-Known Member
#6
@CurleeQ
Thank you for reminding me about the Chernabog carpet! I have edited my opening post to include it.

@Tohrukun
I am leaving out costumes and pins because they don't have the same creative potential as furni. Costumes go on your avatar, pins go on your lanyard, and that's about all there is to it.

Moving on...

Part 4: The Xerox Era

Sleeping Beauty was an artistic success but not, initially, a commercial one...and it had been expensive to make. Not only that, but Walt Disney himself was starting to lose enthusiasm for theatrical animation. Live-action and especially his new pet project--DISNEYLAND--were starting to take up the bulk of his attention. The animation department had to scale back again and look for ways to produce animation more cheaply. The invention of xerographic copying was just what they needed--there's no way a team of artists working solely by hand could have animated triple digits of spotted dogs! Starting in this era, Disney animation began taking on a scratchier appearance because the drawings no longer needed to be refined with crisp inked lines in order to be reproduced.

1961: 101 Dalmatians--Villains Month has been our saving grace here, with those Cruella carpets. ("Synthetic" fur? Not likely!)

1963: The Sword in the Stone--Well...we have the Sword in the Stone itself as a knick-knack for our rooms; does that count? Of course it does.

1967: The Jungle Book--The Jungle Throne is a clear reference to King Louie. That's all I can think of...unless someone wants to make the argument that the tiger-striped Heart Chair was made from Shere Khan. But if even Cruella DeVil is hocking "synthetic" fur in this game, I think that's a non-starter.

Also technically falling into this era are the animated portions of Mary Poppins and the first two Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes. But from the perspective of the official Disney Animated Canon, they don't count.

Conclusion: While still well-known to mainstream audiences, these films are not quite as memorable as those of the Golden and Silver Ages...perhaps in part because they lack iconic imagery with as much oomph as the Magic Mirror or Wonderland's wild Mary Blair-designed foliage. It's hard to imagine how to bring them more fully into MyVMK as furniture.
 
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#7
Maybe a piano for the Aristocats, @Karalora?
Isn't there one with a pink seat that could hearken to Marie?

Also, by the way, you should totally make said room.
Like a ride!
Little ride teleporters that will take you around to each era/room, then back to the start.
You could have a bunch of animator's desks in the lobby, (maybe use the monster's laugh floor room since it looks kinda like the Animator's Building in California Adventure) and then have a shortened url in the desc. that leads to this page so that people could read along.
 

Karalora

Well-Known Member
#8
@Mothstradamus
I am actually considering making such a ride/exhibit! That's why I started this thread!

Part 5: The Dark Age

While The Jungle Book was in production, the worst happened: Walt Disney died, taking much of his studio's verve with him. It became obvious just how much they had relied on him for creative direction, as both the animated and live-action divisions cranked out a string of unambitious, lackluster projects on shoestring budgets. The company was spinning its wheels, and even though the animated films of this period are still remembered and some even have dedicated fan followings, animation historians generally pan them all. They even put out another package film, combining three Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes into a single film.

1970: The Aristocats

1973: Robin Hood

1977: The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh
UPDATE: Christmas 2016 gave us a Pooh Bear plushie as one of the mystery crate items. It's about time!

1977: The Rescuers

1981: The Fox and the Hound--As with the Package Era, only the last movie in the bunch has any MyVMK furniture to its name. It's another Easter Egg--one that can switch between Tod and Copper identities.
 
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Karalora

Well-Known Member
#10
Part 6: Convalescence
If losing their single visionary leader had been Disney's undoing, clearly what they needed to make a comeback was for a new such leader to come on board. In 1984, they got one: Michael Eisner. Although he would later be poorly viewed by many Disney fans, at this early stage he was a godsend, pulling the company together and spearheading exciting new projects for the years ahead. The results of the period immediately after his induction as CEO are mixed, but the spark of ambition was clearly back. Disney Animation was on the road to recovery.

1985: The Black Cauldron

1986: The Great Mouse Detective

1988: Oliver and Company

Note: Perhaps the most ambitious animation project of this period was not an animated feature at all, but the seamless blending of 2-D animation and live-action in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Although not part of the Animated Canon, it bears mentioning for cementing the confidence of the new generation of animators.

Conclusion: These films are in a similar position to those of the Xerox era--well-liked in the right circles, but not significant enough to enjoy mainstream success...or to have their own signature furnishings in MyVMK. But we stand at the edge of perhaps the greatest era of Disney animation to date![DOUBLEPOST=1445718244][/DOUBLEPOST]Part 7: The Disney Renaissance (Rise)
You've all been waiting for this one, right?
After two decades of flailing in the wake of losing Walt, the Disney studio finally got its feet firmly back under it. A return to musical fairy tale romance had worked before, and here it worked again, building up a head of steam that would last for a full decade.

1989: The Little Mermaid--Oddly enough considering its vast popularity, until this month we had only one furniture item directly related to this film: Ariel's Treasure Chest, in a variety of colors. The Villains theme has brought us an awesome collection of Ursula items to balance them out!
UPDATE: Easter 2016 has brought us two eggs featuring Ariel--one her silhouette from the movie's "teaser" poster, the other a rather weird conglomeration patterned after her outfit during the "Tour of the Kingdom" sequence.

1990: The Rescuers Down Under

1991: Beauty and the Beast--Lumiere and the Enchanted Rose seem to be the only in-game artifacts from this movie...but you can't say they're not excellent representation!
EDIT: And now we have the Be Our Guest Table and matching chairs! Thanks, mods!

1992: Aladdin--In a near-repeat of the Mermaid situation, we started with a gradually expanding rainbow of Carpet Chairs, and then received some Jafar-themed goodies for Villains Month. In the meantime, the mods blessed us with a wholly original guest room based on the Cave of Wonders!

1994: The Lion King--So far, the Scar Rug is all we have of this one.

1995: Pocahontas--And this film is a complete no-show in MyVMK so far.
UPDATE: Pocahontas furni at last is here at last in the form of the "Colors of the Wind" egg!

Conclusion: Everyone loves the Disney Renaissance as much as they love the Golden and Silver Ages...but once again, it's the Villains who really get our imaginations fired up!
 
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Karalora

Well-Known Member
#11
Part 8: The Disney Renaissance (Fall)
The Disney Renaissance peaked with The Lion King...leaving Disney, unfortunately, nowhere to go but down. After the comparatively disappointing reception garnered by Pocahontas, the rest of this period saw a slow decline in the studio's fortunes. It certainly didn't help that 1995 also brought Pixar roaring onto the scene. The movies of the Renaissance's second half were all successful at the box office and are generally viewed very positively by Disney fans, but quickly dropped off the mainstream radar afterward (with the possible exception of Mulan, which found a new lease on life when the title character was included in the Princess lineup.)

1996: The Hunchback of Notre Dame--No furniture that I am aware of.

1997: Hercules--Villains Month comes to our rescue once again, with the introduction of Pain and Panic pet generators, as well as the Hades-themed blue firewall. One rotation of the 4-in-1 column also has a Grecian vibe that suits this film.

1998: Mulan--Nothing here.

1999: Tarzan--Or here...strangely enough, since Tarzan actually has a permanent attraction in Disneyland.

1999: Fantasia 2000--Thanks to the re-use of the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment, the Sorcerer Mickey Easter Egg could also represent this movie as it does the original Fantasia.

Conclusion: The second half of the Renaissance is just as stylish as the first half, but its lower prominence with the public meant that it was not honored in the original VMK, and so far our mods have not changed this situation much.
 

Karalora

Well-Known Member
#12
Part 9: Post-Renaissance Blues
Maybe the CGI success of Pixar and its snarky rival DreamWorks was to blame, maybe audiences were just burned out on The Formula that had served so well during the Renaissance itself. Either way, Disney's whirlwind of success fizzled out as the Nineties drew to a close. Although they continued to make daring, high-quality animated films for a few years into the 21st Century, audiences didn't respond. Lilo & Stitch was the only movie during this period to get more than a niche following--and accordingly is the only Post-Renaissance film to have seen any furniture in MyVMK!

2000: Dinosaur

2000: The Emperor's New Groove

2001: Atlantis: The Lost Empire

2002: Lilo & Stitch--Both of the title characters appeared in Easter Egg form. Additionally, a few items themed to this film were released in the original VMK. Thanks to Bindingkey for confirming that the beach-themed items were included a while back, and as of Everything Old Is New Again Month, the Stitch teleporters have also arrived!

2002: Treasure Planet

2003: Brother Bear

2004: Home on the Range

Conclusion: The hosts and mods are only human, and any personal fondness they might have for one of these box-office stinkers must take second place to the need to please the crowd, which is us. It's not surprising that only the most popular of these movies has been honored with game furniture.
 
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Karalora

Well-Known Member
#14
@ Bindingkey
Thanks! Those are indeed the items I was unsure about. I've edited the post.

Part 10: CGI Takeover
Disney's decision-makers compared their own flat box-office numbers to the soaring successes of Pixar and DreamWorks and came to one conclusion: 2-dimensional, hand-drawn animation was passe. CGI was the key to future success in animation. Though they would ultimately make two more efforts to revive the older art form, this marks the beginning of Disney's own CGI era. Yet the shift to computers didn't, in itself, improve the studio's reputation. Something else was missing...could a key be found in the unexpected success of Enchanted, a mostly live-action movie that poked gentle fun at Disney's fairy tale traditions?

2005: Chicken Little--As of Easter 2016, we have a Chicken Little egg. It's not a great movie, but you can't deny it's a thematically appropriate item.

2007: Meet the Robinsons

2008: Bolt

Conclusion: None of these movies was very popular, and none left its mark in VMK or MyVMK. By the time Disney was ready to move on to the next phase, of course, the original VMK had been discontinued. What a pity...
 
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Karalora

Well-Known Member
#15
Part 11: Disney Revival (AKA the New Renaissance)
It had worked in 1950. It had worked in 1989. And it worked--sort of--in 2009. "It" being, of course, a return to the musical fairy tale as the dominant genre for Disney's theatrical animation. This time, the comeback was not as instant as it had been in previous decades--it took a few films for audiences to really rediscover a love of Disney. But when they did...boy howdy!

2009: The Princess and the Frog--We have the Dr. Faciliegg from the Easter egg hunt. As of September 2016, we now have several more items relating to Tiana and Lottie.

2010: Tangled--Two Easter eggs this time, one resembling a floating lantern and the other the golden flower.
UPDATE: The Week 1 prize for Fantasyland Revisited Month appears to be Rapunzel's tower! Woo-hoo!

2011: Winnie the Pooh

2012: Wreck-It Ralph--The Cy-Bug egg. Those eggs are sure versatile, aren't they?
EDIT: And now this creative film has a month all to itself! Just in the first week we've gotten the square bushes of Niceland, Sugar Rush cupcakes and "cake blocks," and Pac-Man ghosts! I can't wait to see what comes next!

2013: Frozen--Here we go! This was the first major animated release from Disney since MyVMK opened, and thanks to its blockbuster status, the game got an entire month dedicated to it, including several unique and iconic furniture items. Do you want to build a snowman? Well...you can! Or operate a reindeer farm, or just decorate your room with a snowscape including a glowing aurora. And as usual...there is an Easter egg associated with this movie, switching between mossy rock and troll forms.

2014: Big Hero 6--This movie, by contrast, had a relatively quiet release (but still a successful one) and no major attention in the game when it first came out, as far as I know. But there are still those goshdarned Easter eggs: two separate Baymax designs.

Conclusion: Disney's back, no doubt about it, and they finally seem to have figured out how to experiment and play around with different genres without losing sight of the fairy tales that are their bread and butter. Except for Frozen, none of these movies got more than a token nod in MyVMK...but except for Winnie the Pooh, they all got something. It bodes well as we move into the future with Zootopia and Moana and Gigantic and who knows what else!

Up next: Ruminations about how to fill in those gaps!
 
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Karalora

Well-Known Member
#16
Going through the Disney Animated Canon film-by-film, you come to realize it's not as well represented as it could (should?) be in MyVMK. Some very popular movies have only token items relating to them, while others have perhaps more than they need. But the thing you need to remember is that it's not just about how beloved a movie is. MyVMK, like VMK before it, is first and foremost an echo of a Magic Kingdom-style Disney park. If a movie hasn't been tapped for a ride or other permanent installation in one of the parks, it's harder to justify including it in any significant way in MyVMK.

That said, animated movies and characters are bigger in the parks than they've ever been, and there's lots of room for improvement in the game! The other dark rides could stand to be better represented, especially ones based on perennially popular titles like Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, and The Little Mermaid. The new "pet pads" have great potential to be tie-ins to movies whose most memorable facet might be one or more cuddly characters. The all-purpose nature of the dark ride tracks means we only need two items--a Ride Start and matching Ride Teleporter--to map out a ride themed any way we wish. And given that dark rides are practically defined by their awesome set pieces...I really hope we see more stuff related to them in the future!

Another thing to think about is connection to themed lands. Even with a Villains Month theme based out of the Golden Horseshoe, Fantasyland still has the bulk of the animated movie-related items...which stands to reason, as Fantasyland has historically contained (and still does contain) the majority of the animated movie-related rides. But Disney's animated features have far expanded beyond the boundaries of fairy tales and children's storybooks since 1955, and it shows in the parks. Maybe it should show in MyVMK as well? Shrunken Ned's could have Lion King or Tarzan items on a permanent basis. The Inner Space Shop could give us more Wreck-It Ralph or Big Hero 6. Even the Emporium has a place in this scheme, as the usual "catch-all" shop for items and themes that don't immediately lend themselves to a land other than Main Street

So what do you think? Which movies in the Disney Animated Canon do you think deserve more representation in the game furni? What sorts of items would best represent them?
 

Bindingkey

Well-Known Member
#17
@Karalora I completely agree with a lot of this last post. Especially about having more Disney animated cannon items in different lands on a regular basis, as well as giving dark rides and dark ride set pieces more attention in game. Personally, I think some set pieces from the Under The Sea ride would look amazing, as well as set pieces from the Pinocchio's Daring Journey and Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh rides.
 

Karalora

Well-Known Member
#18
With November being Fantasyland Revisited Month, it seems likely we will get more items relating to the fairy tale movies. One of the HOST prizes has already been revealed, and it's Rapunzel's Tower. I will keep updating this list going forward!
 

Karalora

Well-Known Member
#19
We've just had a whole slew more Alice and Peter Pan items released, including the all-new Teacup Dark Ride Start.* No need to add them above since the entries for these two movies already mention ride parts as the major items. Still hoping to see more for other Fantasyland-aligned movies such as Dumbo and Pinocchio!

*Why are we getting new starts, but not the corresponding teleporters? Kinda frustrating for those of us who like building rides.
 
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