Animated Movies Throughout the Years: 1992-1994

Animated Movies Throughout the Years: 1992-1994

1992

There were two animated movies released in April. The first was the
Australian-American Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. While the film
did well at the box-office, Ferngully got mixed reviews. However,
it has become a cult classic among animation buffs.

The second was Rock-a-Doodle, which is considered by fans as
Don Bluth's first bad film. The film didn't do that well at the
box-office, but the ridiculous plot and overabundance of unnecessary
songs may be reasons why.

July saw the release of Bebe's Kids. I honestly never seen
this movie, but I heard it was pretty bad.

In August, Japan and America collaborated together for a feature-length adaptation
of Windsor McKay's legendary comic Little Nemo. It was called Little Nemo:
Adventures in Slumber Land, with songs from the Sherman Brothers,
the same duo behind the songs for Mary Poppins and The Jungle
Book.

And finally, in November, Disney released their next big animated movie, Aladdin.
The film got really good reviews when it premiered, grossed over 500 million
dollars at the box-office, and won the Oscars for Best Original Song and Best
Original Score.

1993

Note: Walt Disney Feature Animation didn't release a single movie this year.

The first animated feature for the year was released in May, which was
Happily Ever After. It was an unofficial sequel to Walt Disney's Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film was a box-office failure and got
rather negative reviews. Happily Ever After did so badly that Filmation,
the production house behind this movie, closed their doors for good.

In June, William Hannah and Joseph Barbara* released one of their last
animated movies, Once Upon a Forest. Unfortunately, the film tanked
at the box-office because it had to compete against Jurassic Park.

In July, the famous cat-and-mouse duo made their feature-film debut with
Tom and Jerry: The Movie. However, the film got rather negative reviews.
Many fans complained that Tom and Jerry can talk. In fact, when Gene
Siskel and Roger Ebert reviewed Tom and Jerry: The Movie, they gave
it two thumbs down. They also said ‘Let's hope that when they make a
Roadrunner and Wile E Coyote movie, that they don't start talking’.

October saw the release of Tim Burton's first stop-motion feature film,
The Nightmare before Christmas. The film did very well at the box-office,
got great reviews, and has since become a beloved holiday classic.

In November, Amblimation released their second film, We're Back! A
Dinosaur's Story. It was about a quartet of dinosaurs who get sent
forward through time to the 1990s to go to the New York Museum of
Natural History. While the film had superb character animation and
impressive vocal talents, We're Back! tanked at the box-office: It had
to compete against The Nightmare before Christmas, Mrs. Doubtfire,
and Schindler's List.

And finally, on Christmas, Batman made his animated feature debut with
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Unfortunately, like other hand-drawn
animated movies that year, 'Batman' tanked at the box-office: It earned
only 5 million dollars on a 6 million dollar budget.

1994

The year unfortunately kicked off in March with Don Bluth's Thumbelina.
The film did poorly at the box-office, got rather negative reviews, and
even won the Razzi Award for Worst Original Song. It was the only
animated movie to win a Razzi for 20 years.

June saw the US release of The Princess and the Goblin, the first
animated movie to come out of Wales. However, it got very negative
reviews. 'Princess and the Goblin' did so badly that Hemdale, who
distributed the film, had to convince the critics of children to review the film.

Also in June, Disney released their beast of a film, The Lion King.
The film got very positive reviews, grossed over 780 million dollars
worldwide at the box-office, and won the Oscars for Best Original
Song and Best Original Score.

In October, Don Bluth released his worst-reviewed animated movie
ever, the overly cute A Troll in Central Park. The film earned only 70,000 dollars on
a 22 million dollar budget. John Pomeroy, a friend of Bluth's, even left the company to return to Disney.

There were two animated movies released in November. The first was
The Swan Princess, which is probably best described as a cross between
Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and, even though it didn't exist yet,
The Princess and the Frog. Unfortunately, 'Swan Princess' tanked at the
box-office, but has become a cult classic among some animation fans.

The second was The Pagemaster, the first of two animated movies from
Turner Feature Animation. It was about an overprotective young boy who
goes on an adventure in the library with three talking books: Horror, Fantasy,
and Adventure. Sadly, the film tanked at the box-office. *In case you're wondering who they were, William Hannah and Joseph Barbera were the creators of the world-famous Tom and Jerry cartoons for MGM during the 1940s. After leaving MGM in 1957, Will and Joe decided to make their own studio called Hannah-Barbera Productions, in which they would create beloved animated TV shows like The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and Scooby-Doo. What made their animated productions different from Disney and Warner Bros at the time was the fact that the same backgrounds would be used over and over again. Hannah-Barbera Productions also produced some animated feature films, such as 1973's Charlotte's Web. In 1994, Hannah-Barbera started a division called Cartoon Network Studios, which was focused on original programming for the then-new channel Cartoon Network. Some of their work includes Dexter's Laboratory, The PowerPuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Regular Show, Steven Universe, and Over the Garden Wall, just to name a few. That's all I have to say for this week's Animated Movies Throughout the Years! Tune in next week when we talk about animated movies from 1995-1997, in which Pixar brought toys to life and changed animation forever, Disney tried to adapt a play from Victor Hugo into an animated feature film, and Don Bluth made his return to quality filmmaking with Anastasia.