The Golden Age of DAC

1950 was somewhat of the dawning of a new era for Disney. In my estimate it is the Golden Age of the Disney Animated Canon. This is a noticeable change because Disney abandons the package of short films in exchange for a return to full length animated features.

This is the Golden Age not just because of the return to full-length fairy-tale movies or more profit, but these are a set of movies that Disney uses over and over for their image.

Both Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have castles in the Disney Parks. Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and The Jungle Book have well known characters that roam the parks and are put into television shows, live action remakes, and rides. While Sword in the Stone, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Lady in the Tramp have iconic imagery that are used constantly in Disney promotional reels.

Defining the beginning of the era is obvious as the package films had ended. But the end of The Golden Age is a bit more vague. Sleeping Beauty could have been the end of the grouping, but the scene from Sword in the Stone with the kid pulling out the sword and the commonality of the Jungle Book characters in Disneyworld left them in the category.

If it weren’t for these movies, I would dare say that Disney Animated Studios would be just another movie studio. I think both the beginning and end of this age is well defined although the magnitude of their influence dwindles as you near the end.

Golden Age

1. Cinderella 2-15-1950

2. Alice in Wonderland 7-26-1951

3. Peter Pan 2-5-1953

4. Lady and the Tramp 6-22-1955

5. Sleeping Beauty 1-29-1959

6. One Hundred and One Dalmatians 1-25-1961

7. The Sword in the Stone 12-25-1963

8. The Jungle Book 10-18-1967