1. What is your favorite pre-1960 Disney animated film?I wish I could say
Fantasia, but that film is really a series of shorts, with no single vision throughout. (This is also why I have to disqualify
Fantasia 2000 from consideration on the second question, much as I admire some of it's sections.)
When the word "favorite" is used, my pick is
Sleeping Beauty. Visually, it is one of the most intriguing, and I love the music.
2. What is your favorite post-1960 Disney animated film?Beauty and the Beast. There is only one point in the telling of the tale that I think they faltered, the moment when Gaston reacts to Belle's rejection and decides he has to have revenge on the Beast. An extra beat or two would showing his hurt, and then his decision for revenge, would have made the film perfect.
3. What is your favorite song from a Disney animated film?The best
animated song in the canon is "Circle of Life," one of the best opening numbers ever presented. But my favorite song is "You'll Be In My Heart," from
Tarzan, one of the best love songs written in years. Collins deserved to win that Oscar.
4. Which do you think is the best animated film of all-time?Ah, a different qualifying word, "best." (You have no idea how much I want to write
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
) Here, I'm going to have to say
The Lion King. It is a fully realized film, admirable in almost every way. It's just not my favorite.