The INSIDER Summary:
- Disney is loved by almost everyone — but that doesn't stop critics from being harsh on them.
- Even favorites like "A Goofy Movie" and "Oliver & Company" have received less than glowing reviews.
- "The Wild" is the worst reviewed of the bunch.
Disney Pixar’s "Cars 3" has been in cinemas for a month now, which is long enough for it to build a steady score on infamous review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It’s currently at a pretty average 68%, faring much better than "Cars 2" (see list entry #8), but not quite as good as the first in the franchise, which has a “Certified Fresh” rating of 74%.
Despite Disney being loved by almost everyone, its movies don’t always get a good score on Rotten Tomatoes. But can Rotten Tomatoes really be trusted to tell you how good a film is — or isn’t? Critics often fail to look at a children’s movie through the eyes of a child, and push their tastes onto a simple cartoon made to entertain youngsters. Especially when it comes to a studio so highly regarded as Disney, critics are known to pick fault with a movie just for the sake of it.
So, focusing on just Disney’s animated movies — and not including the Mouse House’s many ill-received direct-to-video sequels — here, ranked from least to most rotten, are the 15 Worst Animated Disney Movies According To Rotten Tomatoes (And Why They’re Wrong).
15. Home on the Range (2004) — 54%
"Home On The Range" tells the story of Maggie the dairy cow, and her adventurous effort to save her farm from foreclosure, and stop a notorious cattle rustler. The film features an all-star (albeit not quite A-List) cast including Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench, Jennifer Tilly, Cuba Gooding Jr., Randy Quaid, and Steve Buscemi.
Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus says: “Though "Home on the Range" is likeable and may keep young children diverted, it’s one of Disney’s more middling titles, with garish visuals and a dull plot.”
Since the early days of Disney, the studio has been releasing Westerns, and "Home On The Range" is a way to open up the genre to a modern, young audience. It might not be as memorable as some of the studio’s’ other releases, but with its slapstick humor and basic animation, it’s perfect for little ones — which, let’s be honest here, is Disney’s target audience. Critics forget that sometimes a movie needs to be just an innocent piece of kids’ entertainment, without an unnecessary underlying narrative, and "Home On The Range" is just that.
14. A Christmas Carol (2009) — 54%
A motion-captured, 3-D CGI movie, "A Christmas Carol" is very different from what we’re used to seeing from Disney. Starring Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman, the movie retells the traditional Christmas tale, using a lot of original Dickens’ dialogue and details.
Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus says: “Robert Zemeckis’ 3-D animated take on the Dickens classic tries hard, but its dazzling special effects distract from an array of fine performances from Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman.”
To see the film criticized for its stunning visuals is absurd, and complimenting the voice/motion-capture actors’ performances in such a backhanded way is equally ridiculous. The movie was at the forefront of a new technology and film style, and utilized its brilliant cast to tell a classic story, bringing Dickens’ work to a new generation of fans, while creeping them out with its child-friendly terror just enough to enforce the work’s original message.
13. A Goofy Movie (1995) — 53%
Mickey Mouse’s best buddy gets his own movie, following on from the "Goof Troop" TV series. "A Goofy Movie" follows Goof as he goes through the typical parent struggle of staying close to your offspring when they start to grow up, while remaining his usual accident-prone, awkward self.
Critics said about the movie: “Makes its title character the second banana to a protagonist and a scenario entirely unworthy of him, mired in instantly-dated sops to early-’90s pop culture” and “If they wanted to make a movie about Goofy, then they should have found a better script for him.”
"The Goofy Movie" is held with pretty high regard by Disney fans. Those “instantly-dated sops to early-’90s pop culture” are actually perfect little nuggets of nostalgia. Who doesn’t love nostalgia?
The best part of the movie though is how it’s grown up with anyone that held it close to their heart in their younger days. First you related with Max as an awkward teen, wanting space from your parents; but now you relate with Goof, either as a parent yourself, or just in the realization of how wrong you were to push your parents away before.
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