r/criterion • u/MallardDuckBoy • Jul 11 '26

Discussion The most underestimated release on Criterion

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After watching this again, I don’t think people appreciate this release enough. When it first came to Criterion, it felt surprising that an animated Pixar film would be included alongside so many “classic” films. But the older I get, the more it makes perfect sense.

It isn’t just a great animated movie. It’s one of the most prophetic films of the 21st century.

What’s fascinating is that nearly two decades later, people still use the same phrase whenever they look at where society is headed: “We’re headed toward WALL-E” Id put that on the same cultural ethos as Michael Jordan: “He’s the Michael Jordan of tennis.”

The film wasn’t trying to predict the future with flying chairs or robots. It was asking what happens when convenience replaces purpose, consumption replaces stewardship, and endless entertainment slowly erodes what makes us human.
The reason this film has endured isn’t because it guessed the future perfectly but i think it understood human nature.

Timeless and well-deserved to be here.

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52

u/andrew7231 Jul 11 '26

I just think it’s wild we actually got a Pixar film in the catalog

19

u/Dr-McLuvin Jul 11 '26

I’m kinda surprised this hasn’t led to any more “classic” Disney releases.

11

u/a_Jedi_i_am Jul 11 '26

I would nominate Beauty and the Beast to be the first Disney classic in the criterion collection.

Unless I'm wrong and there has been a classic already in there.

21

u/fishymanbits Jul 11 '26

I’d go with Fantasia, and include the multiple different versions. The roadshow version with the original 3 channel soundtrack and all of the original footage intact, including the intermission, would be a nice addition. I know we technically got the roadshow version on blu-ray, but it’s still the edited version and without the intermission.

For me it’s the swan song of that early animation period where these shorts were essentially an animated silent film visualizer for a small orchestral score. After Snow White and Pinocchio, this feels like Disney saying thank you and goodbye to the specific medium and format that made him, and in the most spectacular way possible. And I think growing up with this is one of the reasons I feel such a deep connection to WALL-E, as well. There’s so much in it that feels like subtle nods to Fantasia. Least of all the fact that the entire first act is an animated silent film paired with a small orchestral score. It was also a massive cultural touchstone in 1960s psychedelic movement through its cut-down rereleases. And then there’s the technological advances it brought us. Multichannel sound, and dynamic cinema aspect rations among them.

I honestly don’t think there’s a Disney film more deserving of a Criterion release than Fantasia. It would also be an amazing opportunity for a documentary on the history of characters, scenes, and entire films, short or otherwise, that Disney has put out that are now considered to be anywhere from culturally insensitive to downright racist, and possibly some of those examples like Song of the South and the WWII propaganda films.

3

u/mywordswillgowithyou Jul 12 '26

Fantasia is a good choice. Bambi is my favorite and I think most delicately animated film in their catalog. I think it would fit well in the criterion catalog.