The output of Walt Disney Animation Studios–currently totaling 54 full-length films–has been cherished by audiences young and old for almost 80 years. In this weekly online feature, arts and entertainment editor Nathan Tucker will review and rank each of them.

Reviewing The Rescuers Down Under really means reviewing two movies at once. There is no better way to explain the fundamental disconnect between the eyes and the brain that occurs while watching Disney’s first-ever theatrical sequel.

In several ways, Down Under is a significant improvement on the first Rescuers. Made in the middle of Disney’s “dark ages,” the original had ambitions but lacked the focus and budget to make them happen. The sequel solves that problem, providing the most awe-inspiring, thrilling sequences Disney has animated yet. Down Under was a laboratory for new animation techniques, especially the integration of CGI alongside traditional animation. While not all of these experiments work, the overall effect is dazzling: the treads on the poacher’s tank, the eye-popping wilderness of the Australian Outback, and the majestic opening, which sees an Aussie boy fly a massive golden eagle, are particularly noteworthy.   

Less notable is the film’s by-the-numbers story, which seems to become bored with itself about halfway through. Down Under continues the franchise’s themes of courage, adventure, and child endangerment but adds nothing new to that formula. Somehow, nearly every element of the plot feels like an afterthought, up to and including the titular characters. Bernard and Bianca have all but nothing to do until the last ten minutes, with the rest of the film being more concerned about the continuing adventures of Young Steve Irwin. By that, no offense is meant against the Australian version of Go Diego Go; his plotline is genuinely where the film is most interesting and affecting. But when considerably more time is spent on him and a useless albatross hospitalization subplot than the ostensible leads, Down Under starts to feel directionless.    

“You can’t have it all,” the cliche goes, and The Rescuers Down Under certainly does not. It returns, albeit less starkly, to the Snow White problem: an animated gloss concealing a limp story.  

  The List:

1. Bambi
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
4. Lady and the Tramp
5. The Little Mermaid
6. The Jungle Book
7. Alice in Wonderland
8. Fantasia
9. Pinocchio
10. The Great Mouse Detective
11. Robin Hood
12. The Rescuers Down Under
13. The Rescuers
14. One Hundred and One Dalmatians
15. Peter Pan
16. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
17. Cinderella
18. Dumbo
19. Oliver and Company
20. The Aristocats
21. The Fox and the Hound
22. The Sword in the Stone
23. Melody Time
24. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
25. Fun and Fancy Free
26. Saludos Amigos
27. Make Mine Music
28. The Black Cauldron
29. The Three Caballeros