In This Corner…

Back in the days before 1995, before Pixar came along and ruined everything, the Walt Disney Studio was responsible for the greatest animated films of all time. In 1937, Walt Disney changed the face of cinema forever with the first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Every few years heralded the advent of a new Disney masterpiece, but following The Jungle Book in 1967 (the final animated film Walt himself oversaw before his death), Disney animation hit a bit of a slump.

It wasn’t until 1989, with the success of The Little Mermaid, that the studio’s second Golden Age of animation arrived, and it lasted until CGI (and the obvious storytelling prowess of Pixar Studios) moved in and brutally kicked traditional hand-drawn animation out of the cinemas. It was a magic age that brought us films the likes of Aladdin, Mulan and Tarzan, but there were two films that stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Both were films that told classic stories in a way that only Disney animation could achieve. Both reveled in critical and box office success. (One was able to claim for nine years that it was the highest-grossing animated movie of all time; the other was able to claim for 19 years that it was the only animated movie to ever be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award–until an expansion of the category to ten nominees and this film came along.) And both were unquestionably among the most brilliant jewels in Disney’s animation crown. But this, folks, is Flickchart, and there’s only one question to ask: Which movie is better? Find out in this edition of Reel Rumbles (now Super-Sized, with a special Bonus Round!): The Lion King vs. Beauty and the Beast.

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