It all ended with “Frozen.”
The year was 2013 — or, as I like to remember it, the year you couldn’t go a week without being asked to “build a snowman.”
This was the last animated film I enjoyed. The last animated film I paid to watch in a theater. It was nearly the last animated film that didn’t make me want to pull my hair out.
Forever a lover of classic Disney-produced films, I was the child with every possible princess VHS tape imaginable. When the time came to rid ourselves of outdated technology and make the switch to digital, I was the one to smuggle a few leftover tapes into my memory box. You bet “Peter Pan,” “The Lion King,” “Dumbo” and “Hercules” made the cut.
Hailey Stewart | Argonaut
My room was filled with stuffed animated characters. We frequented the Disney store in the mall more than any child should have. I attempted to name my baby sister Stitch.
It’s not that I was devoid of a childhood. The movies that molded my childhood are so far superior to the children’s films produced today that I can’t stand the hour and a half of animated mediocrity.
Even the few animated films I have waited to see until they hit the small screen are just sequels to the beloved classic animated films I loved so dearly as a child. “Incredibles 2” may have been OK, but it’s because it rode the coattails of its far superior predecessor.
For the remakes that have popped up over the past several years — “Beauty and the Beast,” “Maleficent,” “The Jungle Book,” “Pete’s Dragon” — Disney realized just how to make the classics grow with its classic audience.
The one animated film produced in my adulthood that I’ll give props to? “Coco.” How can you not love that colorful, whimsical piece of art?
Although “Coco” was created recently, the likes of this film should never be lumped in with each of the horrid “Lego” movies or any film with a cast of Emojis.
Still, there is no doubt the look of recent animated films is nothing short of amazing. Films such as “Moana” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” showcase the difficult work that goes into producing such high graphic quality.
Aside from the near-immaculate content of these newer animated films, they just don’t come close to the magic I once found in classic animations. Remember the feeling of watching a classic animation and not thinking it seems like every other animated film out that year? That’s hard to find anymore.
It’s not that I won’t watch animated films. You’ll be hard pressed to find me asleep after a horror film without first watching half an hour of “Tarzan.” And with two young siblings, I won’t find a shortage of animation for years to come.
I may sound like a film snob, a boring adult or an animation curmudgeon. I’ve been called them all.
However, I still picture the scene from “Lady and the Tramp” when I eat spaghetti. I will forever tear up during “The Fox and the Hound.” I’ll always imagine Ariel’s tail flipping through the water when I visit the ocean. And you will never find me silent when “Let It Go” plays on the radio.
I just so happen to think the best of the best animated films were produced before 2015. Because, let’s be honest with ourselves, almost everything was better before 2015. It’s called taste.
Read Lindsay’s opposing view here.
Hailey Stewart can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @HaileyAStew