The Classic Era of DAC

Walt Disney, the creator of Disney studios, Disneyland, Disneyworld, Mickey Mouse, and countless other things. In 1934 he was running a successful animation studio that employed around 200 animators. They made many successful and acclaimed short cartoons. But Walt believed that a full-length animated feature film would be a tremendous success. Critics disagreed and felt that Walt was about to bankrupt his studio with the movie they had dubbed, Disney’s Folly.

This of course turned out to be wildly inaccurate and instead was the beginning of an amazing journey through animated films that help shape our film industry and some of our popular culture.

This first set of films is what I refer to as The Classic Era. The first five films of Disney are iconic and are utilized time and again by the Disney Corporation. Many of the characters are seen around their theme parks, some of the songs are used for their shows or logo displays, and many of the scenes are iconic pop culture.

I call this The Classic Era instead of the Golden Age because there is a later time period that also held many iconic movies, but by that time Disney had learned from many mistakes and was able to create a much more consistent final product. Regardless, these are the films that started it all.

The Classic Era

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 12-21-1937

2. Pinocchio 2-7-1940

3. Fantasia 11-13-1940

4. Dumbo 10-23-1941

5. Bambi 8-13-1942