PETER PAN

1953

In 1904, The boy who would not grow up, a play by Scottish novelist  James Matthew Barrie, was first played at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, and in 1913, Walt Disney saw it for the first time and was amazed by it. Shortly after, he would even participate in a school version of the play along his brother Roy.

The first Peter Pan Movie was a black and white, silent feature released in 1924. As the previous versions of the play, the role of Peter was played by a woman, actress Bettie Bronson. The film featured many technological advances, such as having a live action Tinker Bell, and other special effects.

In 1939, Disney bought the screen rights, and in 1940 the studio began producing a feature length film. But the Walt would have to wait 14 years to release his 14th feature film called Peter Pan. For me, one of the top 5 movies in Walt Disney history.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

1951

Alice in Wonderland, adapted from the novel by Lewis Carroll, is the 13th film by Disney Animated Studios.
Lewis Carroll's book was a great inspiration to Walt Disney who produced several short films based on several segments of the original story. Since the days of the Laugh O Grams, Disney worked on several  animated segments called Alice Comedies, which combined live action with classic animation.

In 1936 he also released a short film, starring Mickey Mouse, called "Thru the mirror" which finds Mickey having a strange dream after reading Alice through the looking glass. Although the film is very loosely based on the original story, there are some nice gags, and the animation is really great.

After this production, the studio worked on several other adaptations of the story, none of which would be released.

CINDERELLA

1950

Cinderella is the 12th animated feature in the Disney Animated Classics, and the return to full length films after the production of 6 package films (films made up of several shorts). 

Even though many of their features had been critically acclaimed, up to this point Snow white had been the only real economic success for Disney. By the end of the 1940s the company's future was in doubt. So when Walt Disney decided to make a new full length feature film, the idea of reimagining a classic story was probably the safe way to go. 

ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD

1949

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is the last package film in a series of 6, made by Disney Animated Studios through the 1940s. 

As the title sugests, this feature film is made up of two stories, both based upon popular tales. The first one, Mr Toad is a character from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, a classic tale from English literature. The second one is an adaptation of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a tale written by American writer Washington Irving. 

MELODY TIME

1948

Melody Time is the 10th feature film released in the Disney Animated Classics, and the fifth package film produced due to economic problems during the 40s.
As the previous package films had, Melody time features short films using music as the base for storytelling. This time there are 7 different stories, some with original concepts, some that are based on popular tales.

FUN AND FANCY FREE

1947

Made up of two short films, Fun and Fancy free is Disney's second package film released after WWII. Production on both shorts had begun before the war, and from 1941 through 1946 they went through many changes, finally being paired up to be released as a single feature. Both shorts are presented by Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards), who opens the movie with a song that was originally written for Pinocchio.

MAKE MINE MUSIC

1946

Since the beginning of World War II, Disney Animation Studios went through a kind of economical crisis, with some of its movies not doing so well at the box office. So during the mid-forties, the studio had lost a lot of animators and was forced to produce features with shorter budgets.

The answer was to create what are called "package films". These, as the name implies, are features made up of several short films. Disney had a lot of material to choose from. Some stories were too short to be features, others too long to be individual short films. So the studio made a compilation of stories in four different films: Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.