Now that the Animation Advent Calendar is done for a second year, I thought to start off 2015, I'd finally reveal my personal top 10 Favourite Disney Animated Films! Since this is my personal thoughts & not just basing it on the public's views, you may be surprised which ones I like over others that are considered much much better! And just so you know, this'll be done in 10 separate posts instead of one big one since I have a lot of say about each one! And the format will be different!

10) Treasure Planet (VERY loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island)! I know this is deeply flawed compared to other Disney animated films, but I can't help but love it & it's partly due to nostalgia factor for me! When I was a kid (I was 7 when it came out. Yes, I had to grow up during Disney's second Dark Age) I was so so excited to see this cos of all the cool sci fi & adventure aspects as it felt different compared to other Disney films at the time. Heck, my family even went to the London Planetarium (before it got converted into an extension for Madame Tussauds) around the time it was released which had an exhibit promoting the film! Anyway, why do I like it so much despite the problems? First off, the animation! Yes, the CGI is pretty jarring now with the 2D, but nobody had really done it to this kind of proportions at the time & it is pretty creative! I love the steampunk-ish look (called the 70-30 law during the making of the film) whether it's the ships, outfits or even Silver's cool cyborg design! I even love the character designs on the aliens rather it's the dog-like Dr Doppler, the cat-like Captain Amelia, the scorpion-like Mr Scroop or even just some of Silver's lackeys!

As for the characters themselves, I enjoy all of them! Jim (voiced by the hot Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for example may seem like your typical rebellious teen looking for adventure, but his backstory with his father leaving & wish to make his mother proud make him more relateable & sympathetic. Silver is also great as he's neither really a hero nor a villain as he begins to genuinely care for Jim as a surrogate father & I like seeing those sorts of characters rather than just black & white/good or evil characters. Captain Amelia (voiced by the amazing Emma Thompson) is also enjoyable as while she can be quite cold towards Jim, she can be pretty witty & likeable & her interaction with Dr Doppler (voiced by David Hyde Pierce) is also enjoyable! Mr Scroop on the other hand was pretty much useless other than the movie having an actual bad guy, but moving on! Speaking of Dr Doppler, he is also likeable & funny as & his wide knowledge on astronomy does manage to make him interesting & progress the plot in a surprising way! Also, I'm glad to see a Disney movie (from that time) to not have a love story as part the main plot (I know, Doppler & Amelia fall in love but that can easily be glossed over) & it's much more about a father/son-ish relationship between Jim & Silver, which is handled pretty well along with the relationship between Jim & his mother! *Sighs* Thank God that planned sequel which'd have included a love interest wasn't made... Anyway, other characters like Ben surprisingly make me laugh despite his times of annoyance (I think it's mostly cos of Martin Short's acting & Jim's deadpan reactions to him), Morph was OK as obligatory sidekicks go even if his voice grated on me sometimes & Jim's mother didn't have as much screen time or development than she should have despite all her potential given it seems she had Jim at a younger age!

As for the plot itself, I like how it focuses on the adventure aspect & how it connects well to the heart of the film. There is a bit of filler here & there to show off the animation, but it's still pretty good animation nonetheless so it doesn't really bother me. I even enjoyed the twists in the third act involving the planet itself & the world they made is pretty creative despite it being a bit confusing with the 70/30 law feeling a bit inconsistent. However, one part I do love is the theme involving losing a parent (not through death) with Jim's father just leaving his family, which is pretty sad given that it is something that can unfortunately happen in real life & Jim's behaviour is pretty realistic over it all as he feels he always screws up & can't do anything right. Like I mentioned, the film does have a lot of heart because of the relationship between Jim & Silver & it shows that throughout thanks to the solid chemistry between the characters & it feels very natural during their heart to heart moments. I also enjoy the fact that the females (mostly Amelia) are portrayed as independent & are not solely to be in the movie as love interests compared to female side characters from other Disney animated films i.e. Nera from Dinosaur & Vixey from The Fox & the Hound & they have their own personalities instead of just being reduced to cliches.

I know this is a love-or-hate film in the public eye, but I can't help but be on the love side mostly thanks to the nostalgia factor & I consider it to be one of Disney's more underrated films even if it was during their Dark Age in the early 2000s (yeah, I'm not even gonna go into Home On The Range or Brother Bear which I admit I saw both in theatres)! Overall with great animation, interesting characters, full of action & adventure & surprising emotional depth, I can't help but love it despite it's huge differences from the source material & obvious flaws!