8 Criminally Underrated Disney Movies

1. The Fox And The Hound (1981)

If we movie lovers have learned anything from our documentary-watching and commentary-listening, it's that filmmaking is a chaotic business. Unforeseen problems can crop up at any point during a film's production. As a result, filmmakers are often forced to make lemonade out of lemons. The Fox And The Hound is a prime example of such lemonade-making.

The Rescuers had marked a new era in Disney animation; while Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Wolfgang Reitherman (members of Walt's original "Nine Old Men") worked on some of the animation, most of the duties were handed over to the new crop of animators that had just been recruited from the fertile field of college art students. The new animators included such future movers-and-shakers as Tim Burton, Brad Bird, and Don Bluth (more on him in a moment). After The Rescuers, the animators immediately set to work on their next project: an adaptation of Daniel P. Mannix's 1967 novel The Fox And The Hound. Johnston, Thomas, and Reitherman did some preliminary character sketches before retiring. The sketches were turned over to the new animators, who immediately got to work. Unfortunately, dissension was beginning to rise in the ranks of the new employees. Don Bluth became incensed when every decision he made was second-guessed by studio execs. Bluth also became convinced that Disney Pictures had drifted away from Walt's original vision, focusing on producing sickly-sweet, slapped-together films. Bluth announced his intention to leave Disney and start his own studio, inviting his fellow animators to join him. Several animators accepted the invitation. Add to that the fact that two other animators, Tim Burton and Brad Bird, were making plans to leave Disney and pursue their own projects, and Disney Animation had a potential disaster on their hands. Instead of admitting defeat, however, Disney's remaining animators made the most of a bad situation. Rather than try to fully take on the load that the departed animators left, they changed the look of the film. As a result, The Fox And The Hound is populated with lovely, simple backgrounds, rather than the detailed backdrops seen in most Disney flicks. The simple backgrounds, combined with a beautiful mix of autumnal oranges and reds and earthy colors, gave the film a great-looking palette to play out against. In fact, the quality of the artwork elevates the movie above its simplistic, cliched storyline, making the film one of the best of the pre-Eisner era. The story takes its plot from pieces of prior Disney flicks, but it works well enough. The real attraction of the film, however, is how good the film looks. The animators who stuck it out for the long run were obviously talented, and they did a great job of salvaging a tough situation. Unfortunately, the pedestrian plot keeps many from viewing the film. Don't let the film's flaws keep you from seeing this flick; it's really beautiful to behold. Well, there you have it: nine Disney flicks that don't get the attention they deserve. Which movies have we missed? Let us know below!