Top 10 Disney Live Action Films

In this week's episode, Jared shares with us his opinion of the top 10 Disney live action films.

Transcript

0:00

On this week's episode of a Dryer Dose of Disney, Jared shares with us his opinion of the top Disney live action movies of all time. Welcome to this week's episode of a Dryer Dose of Disney. I'm your host, Jared Dryer, and today we are continuing on with our three episode series of the top movies in our Disney and Universal Universes. Last week we talked about the top 10 Disney animated movies. Today we're gonna be talking about the top 10 Disney live action films, and the next week we're gonna be going over the top 10 universal films. And that one's a huge catalog, so we'll have more to discuss next week as we talk about that. Before we dive in though to this week's episode, we do wanna ask wherever you're listening to us, find that subscribe button and click that so that way you can get this content delivered into your inbox each and every single week. And then we've got a lot of great supporters down in the podcast description below. So check those out. Visit our supporters out there and their links. They will definitely save you time and money as you're going to the Disney or Universal parks. So we encourage you to go check all that out, including we've got things like the Southwest Credit card can that can get you airline miles and the companion pass. That's the one that we use, as well as our condo down there in Orlando. And you can stay where we stay if you click on our links in the podcast description below. So definitely go check that out. Now back to the episode. So today we're gonna be talking about the top 10 Disney. Live action films. And of course there is a huge catalog of these and it keeps growing. Obviously each and every year there are dozens of new Disney movies that come out. In addition to the fact Disney is buying content. So some of the movies actually today are owned by Disney. They're on Disney Plus but they were not originally released by Disney. Though Disney has released some new versions of some of these movies, so we're definitely gonna include those in the canon today as we go through our top 10 movies. And as always, like last week, this list is highly subjective. These are my personal favorite movies, and we're gonna talk through each one and why they made the list. Some may be your personal favorites, some may not be your personal favorites, and there may be some movies that you think should be in the top 10 that are not in our top 10. So feel free to find us on Facebook. You can find our page out there at a dryer dose of Disney, and you can let us know. You can send us a message and tell us, Hey, these were my top 10 lists and if we get enough responses, of course we'll talk about those in future episodes. Speaking of which, on one of our recent episodes, we talked about epic Universe and the Rope Drop strategy and the review of Epic Universe. And one comment we got was a question around. The queuing for single rider'Cause we do love single rider. And on that episode, you heard me talk about the fact that yes, most of the single rider queues are going to see the full queue for the most part. And that is true. There's a question that asked, Hey, don't single riders typically skip the queue and at other parks for other rides? Yes, that is a hundred percent the case. But they did a really great job at Epic University. By including the single riders in through the standard queuing. So you can see a lot of the same cue elements. Now, you're not gonna see a hundred percent, but you do get pretty close on most of the queues. So there's a perfect example. Somebody reached out, contacted us, asked a question, and we're sharing that on a future episode as well. So we do want to hear what your top 10 movies are for Disney animation, Disney Live Action, or Universal on our comments. So please reach out and put those on there or find us at Facebook. But without any further ado, let's hop right into it and let's talk about our Number 10 movie on Disney Live action. And that is gonna be a classic, and that's the original, not the remake, the original Parent Trap with Haley Mills. And this is a fantastic movie done a long time ago where it was one of the first movies actually, where they used the new technology of filming the same actor and overlaying the film with itself. Meaning you have Haley Mills that plays both Sharon and Susan in the movie, similar to the way that it was done with Lindsay Lohan in the nineties. But what they did is back then, obviously you're using actual film strips. So they overlaid the film strip. They would film the scene twice with her in each of the costumes saying part of the lines to her twin, similar to the way Lindsay Lohan did it, but this is one of the first times they ever did it. It. So that is a really cool feature and a really cool technology that Disney used back then and this movie's great. So this movie's got some really good comedy, obviously. It's a great loving story. And it's just a ton of fun. And this is a movie that I grew up with. It's one that my sisters loved, and so we watched a lot of parent trap growing up. Between the original and the Lindsay Lohan version. There aren't many differences. The movies are pretty similar in nature and my preference goes to the original just because it is original. It is the classic version and it's just a ton of fun. So we definitely encourage you to go check that out if you haven't seen it yet. They are very similar in nature, so if you've seen the new one, it's not too different to see the old one but it is a great movie and a great time. Our number nine movie is also a classic, and this one's actually strange because it's a hybrid. It is both an animated and a live action film, and that is Pete's Dragon and we love the original one better than the new one. And of course the new one's great as well. And there's some great CGI in the new one, but in the original one you have Elliot the Dragon is a cartoon. And again, Disney inventing new technology. This is one of the first movies that was ever made where they overlaid animation on top of a regular film still. And that's a really cool technology that they developed to do this movie. And in addition to that new technology, this movie had some great songs in it, so it's more of a musical in some elements. But it was wonderful to have these classic performers. So you've got really famous ones. In this movie that really shine in this movie. So Red Button is playing the doctor's assistant and you've got some great singers and Mickey Rooney of course, in this movie. So Pete's Dragon, the original is more of a musical style. It's got some great music and it's got some cool technology for the day back then. So that's why it makes our top 10 list of the top 10 Disney Live action films at number eight. Number seven is another Disney Revolution. And again, where they had new technology, they incorporated something a little bit different. And this one is Honey I Shrunk the Kids. So of course the great movie with Rick Moranis where the kids get shrunk by the shrinking machine and they have to make their way from the backyard back into the house to get brought back to real life size. And obviously you have some really cool technology with the set pieces. That they designed for this movie. And in fact, some of those set pieces made their way back to Hollywood Studios a while ago, and those were used in the Honey I shrunk the Kids Play area. So if you ever saw that back in the nineties, early two thousands, that was an awesome play area back there at Hollywood Studios and it was a ton of fun and a chance to live that movie. What I love about Honey I Shrunk the Kids, is it had some cool adventure. It was. Funny at different parts. Rick Moranis is great, of course, but the way that they incorporated the small kids with the humans that were larger sized was really incredible. And there was a really cool set design. So if you ever get a chance to watch the Making of Honey, I Shrunk. The kids, they had things like a full-sized cereal bowl with huge inner tube sized Cheerios where the kids were floating in that. So lots of really cool things that they did to make this movie the way that it was. And this is one that I had a chance to grow up with as well, so it's very nostalgic, as are the other two that were on this list prior to that, and that's why it made our top 10 list at number eight. In addition to that, let's go to number seven, another movie that I grew up with that I absolutely love. This is one of my all time favorite Disney movies, and in fact, this one was trying to compete to get higher on the list, and I'll explain why here in a little bit. Why it isn't higher on the list, but that is the rocketeer. And this is an early nineties movie of the Rocketeer. So he's a comic book hero from back in the day, a guy who had a jet pack who could fly. And this movie is amazing. So it's got lots of action and adventure and a love story. And it is just a really great Disney movie with lots of heart, lots of just adventure, which I absolutely love. And it brought a comic book character to life. The Rocketeer, no one's ever remade it since then, obviously a lot of movies get remade and a lot of heroes come back in different formats. We've had dozens of Spider-Man and dozens of Batman and Superman, but the Rocketeer is a one and done original and it's just a really fun movie. Of course, it's done in the golden age of Hollywood, which even amps it up just a little bit more because it's that classic time when Walt was younger. And movies were just getting started. So it's a fun movie. The whole family would love it. It's got lots of adventure and it's a superhero, so it's really cool. The Rocketeer, let's go to number six on my list. And this one I can tell you is going to be controversial. I think people are gonna place this higher probably on their list, and you will understand when we get higher on our list why it's not up there with some of these others. But for a lot of people, this is probably in their top two or three movies that are Disney Live action movies. And that is Mary Poppins. Of course, Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke are incredible in this movie. We absolutely love this movie. Great music that's very memorable. A lot of really great imagery from the chalk art on the ground to the cartoon that takes place as they're out there riding the horses or they go on the fox hunt to going to feed the birds and going to the bank. There are so many memorable moments in this movie, and it is so incredible. It made obviously our top 10 list. A lot of people, a lot of our listeners probably have this even higher in their list, and there's no discounting this movie. It is a Disney classic. It is a Disney original, and it is absolutely fantastic. We absolutely love Mary Poppins, and I will say, if you've seen the movie Saving Mr. Banks, which is the telling of how they made the Mary Poppins movie, that is also a fantastic movie. And we wrote that on the same line here, number six. With Mary Poppins is saving Mr. Banks, where Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney and they talk through what that progress was like making that movie. Those two compliment each other very well. I encourage you, if you haven't seen either one to go watch them both, of course, start with Mary Poppins and then see saving Mr. Banks. But what was so interesting as as they go through saving Mr. Banks, you have pl Traver who wrote Mary Poppins, the books, and she's very frustrated with Walt Disney and how he's trying to represent her book and her characters. And she doesn't like the fact that they cast Dick Van Dyke. She thinks he's a comedian. He doesn't play the part of Burt very well. But I will say Disney was on point casting Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in this movie. They are phenomenal. They are so good together. And then on top of it you have the Sherman brothers who wrote most of the music for this movie, and that's incredible. So this is a true Disney legacy movie, and I'll encourage you, if you want to get to the root of who Walt Disney was and who his dream team was, go watch Mary Poppins. It's a great representation of that. That takes me to number five on our list. And number five is one personally for me that I put higher on the list. That I know a lot of people probably wouldn't let crack their top 10, and that is Swiss Family Robinson. This was my favorite movie as a child. I watched this movie a thousand times over and over again. I absolutely love Swiss Family Robinson. I think it's such a great, heartwarming story of adventure. Again, I love that adventure element. Of a family who's marooned on an island and trying to survive on an island, fighting pirates, eventually capturing tigers and other animals, and writing obviously an ostrich in a foot race. So this movie has tons of fun elements. It's got a lot of family elements between the family Robinson and how they interact with one another and trying to decide do they go on to New Guinea or do they stay on the island eventually? And it is just a heartwarming tale that just has a really cool tree house in it. So I absolutely love this movie growing up. You have of course the Swiss family, Robinson Tree House at Disney World at Magic Kingdom, which is obviously a replica of the one at Disneyland, which the Disneyland one was later re themed to Tarzan. But a really cool tree house with lots of cool elements. And I know as a kid I dreamed of living in that tree house. I thought that would be the coolest adventure ever on earth. And this movie's just really incredible. Now, one thing that I absolutely love about this movie is the number of animals that they got into this movie. So everything from obviously the Great Dane dogs that they have with them the whole time to the tiger, they capture the ostrich. You've got a python that they wrestle at one point in the swamp area. You've got a monkeys in there that are playing with the family. You've got sea turtles, you've got sharks. You've got so many different elements and animals in this movie. It's incredible and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was so great. Okay. So let's go on to our top four movies, and these ones in the top four. I have individual movies for each one, but these ones are each tied to larger now Disney universes. Okay? So that in and of itself. Makes these movies just a little bit more epic in the sense that there are so many movies tied together that work together to create these universes that create these stories that are just epic, right? So because of that, those elements help levitate these to the top four. So that's why I like earlier I said Mary Poppins is at number six, and a lot of people would put that in their top two or three. These ones aren't just the individual movies themselves, but they're part of a larger canon. That is absolutely amazing, in my opinion, that I absolutely love. So you are all gonna be very surprised for, especially for those who know me personally, the one that fell at number four. And at number four I have our Star Wars universe. And I'm gonna actually give you two, two areas here that I think are the top ones. And that is first the original trilogy. Episodes four, five and six that were released in the late seventies, early eighties. And then the individual movie that I think is best throughout the whole Star Wars universe is Rogue One. If you're familiar with Star Wars, and obviously if you know me, you know I am a huge Star Wars fan. In fact, my office at work is decorated Allstar Wars, as well as one of our rooms in our house is Allstar Wars. I love Star Wars art, I love the lore. You can see some Star Wars behind me, obviously in my background previously and today I've got baby Yoda off to the side, I've got R 2D two behind me. I absolutely love Star Wars. It's one of my all time favorite movie trilogies and series. Now this one was originally done by George Lucas and later bought by Disney, who has since released more movies and more trilogies and more different TV shows on Disney Plus as well. So they now own this whole universe. I absolutely think it's wonderful, but I am gonna say that the three, the top three. Are even more Disney because they Disney's done more of them and I think that they're even better movies than some of the Star Wars. So I don't say that to be blasphemous against Star Wars because it is one of my favorite trilogies of all time, the original one. But I'm gonna tell you that some of these other movies are just that much better, which takes me to number three on our list. So number three again, is a different universe, and that is gonna be the Indiana Jones Movie series. And in fact, the best movie out of all the Indiana Jones is Raiders of the Lost Arc. I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Arc when I was younger and the movie absolutely, it not only entertained me, but it made me dream of going back in time to live like Indiana Jones. Raiders of the Lost Arc is one of the epitome of adventure for a kid. It, this movie's incredible. Obviously there are some I don't wanna say violent aspects, but there are some more graphic aspects in this movie. Not just counting things like skeletons,'cause you've got a lot of skeletons in the movie but you've got spiders, you've got snakes, and then of course there is a finale scene that is a little bit more graphic as things happen. And if you're not familiar with it, I won't spoil it. But most people are familiar with what happens at the end of Raiders loss are, but I can tell you it's not met for little kids. But for those. Tweens to teens those early, from, I'd say 12 years old to 16 years old as a kid, Raiders of the Lost Ark was one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. And to see this guy with a bull whip out there fighting and trying to save the day, it was amazing. I absolutely loved growing up with Indiana Jones and seeing his new movies come out as they came out as I got older. So this one obviously is now owned by Disney as they own all of Lucas film, which includes Star Wars. And they have been producing and putting out new movies as well. This is now considered part of the Disney cannon and I absolutely love it. It's number three, number two on my list. And this is just because it's so well done and so tied to the parks are the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and I'm gonna give you two that I think really stand out in this Pirates universe with Jack Sparrow, and that is Curse of the Black Pearl, the very first one. With Orlando Bloom and Kira Knightly, I think that movie's absolutely incredible. They did such a great job on their first go trying to create this new universe and to have sword fighting and pirates and all the curses that come along with it. And this movie is just incredible. It really shows what the ride is like. So you get the dark city and the city, in peril under attack by these pirates. And the movie did a fantastic job bringing that to life. I think they did better with Curse of the Black Pearl than they have done with things like the Jungle Cruise movie or Haunted Mansion movie. So Pirates definitely made my top part of the list in addition to Curse of The Black Pearl. I think their fifth movie in the series, dead Men Tell No Tales is also a fantastic adventure. Though you may not have Orlando Bloom in the whole movie, or Keira Knightly in the whole movie. The new characters that they brought in do a great job telling the story, and this one has a lot more heart in it than some of the others. So because of that, I absolutely love Dead Men Tell No Tails, and that makes Pirates of the Caribbean number two on my list. And again, a lot of my friends, our family may question, Hey, how did Pirates of the Caribbean beat out Star Wars? I think that the adventure in the movies and how they tied this intellectual property back to Disney, into the parks being an original Disney piece of work. Is amazing and that in of itself is why this one's number two on my list. So let's go to number one. And I'm sure if you know me or if you already are very familiar with the Disney catalog of movies that are out there, you know exactly where I'm gonna go. And that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I think Disney with their 20, some movies probably over 30 now. Of Marvel movies, of all these superheroes has done a fantastic job with this intellectual property and they have taken it completely to a new level, a new world, and a new realm. The Marvel movies, if you watch'em, they're in different phases. The first four phases are absolutely incredible how they build these stories and then start to weave these stories together. So my top movie. In Marvel is Avengers EndGame which obviously came out a few years ago and is one of the top grossing movies of all time. I will also throw out a little kudos to Infinity War, which is tied to end Game. Those are the a first and second movie in that series together. But End Game took all these characters and not only did they give 'em more heart than they had in their individual movies. But they gave some cinematic elements that ha haven't been seen really before in movie history. Now what I mean by that is you have some really big epic moments in these movies. So when you look back and we'll talk about this next week as we talk through universal movies, the top universal movies have some really key elements, single things that happen in a movie that made them fantastic, made them great, made them top of the chart. What is different about the Avengers moving specifically End game is you have multiple moments in this movie that happens. So for example, and again, I hate to spoil things, but I think so many people have seen it, it's okay to talk about it. Throughout the whole Marvel cannon, you've got Thor's Hammer that no one else can carry except for Thor. And then as you get into Age of Ultron, vision is able to carry Thor's hammer. Fast forward, we're now in endgame and there's always been a question whether or not Captain America can carry Thor's hammer, and that gets answered in this movie and that moment is epic. If you've ever seen videos of people when they first screened Avengers Endgame, you have the whole crowd going nuts and losing their mind when that happens. Fast forward in that movie as the battle continues, you have the portal scene. Where, Dr. Strange has told Tony Stark, there's, one in 14 million chance of them winning and there's only one version in win in which they win. And the portals open and all the heroes come back that were lost, that had been moved to dust in the previous movie. They're back, they're gonna help in this battle. And it's just, it's, it gives me chills to think about. In fact, when I first saw the movie. I was so excited. I had tears running down my face when all these heroes come back and they all fight together. And I will say as far as cinematic movies go, that is the most epic experience I've ever had at a movie in my entire life. Beats every movie I've ever seen as far as that element of just. Lifting up your spirits and getting you really engaged with the movie. So Avengers Endgame takes the cake, and because of that it's at our number one spot. Now, like I said at the top of the episode, this is completely subjective. These are my opinions. Of course, we want to hear yours, so if you have opinions of what are better movies, you can leave them in the comments on YouTube, or you can find us on Facebook and write us and message us there and we'll talk about those in future episode. Us, but we wanna say join us next week as we talk through universal movies, which has a bigger catalog of movies than all of Disney combined. So Universal has been in business, obviously just as long, and they have way more movies that are released every single year and more variety of movies. So a tougher list to create. But I think you guys are gonna enjoy the list that we have next week. So with that, we wish you a magical week as you're planning your next Disney vacation, and we will talk to you guys next time. Bye bye.