Marathon Weekend 2027

Good morning RunDisney All-Stars! Welcome to this week’s edition of Sundays Are For Disney (SAFD) where we’ve reached the grand finale of our March Movie Madness event! So, for our first order of business, here are the semifinal results:

Woody and friends weren’t much more than chew toys for the lions and hyenas as Lion King absolutely devoured Toy Story 25-13.

The other side of the bracket was a much closer affair with the lead being traded back and forth several times, but in the end the combined power of the Dark Side and Empire was just too much for the crew of the Black Pearl. Empire Strikes Back prevailed over Pirates of the Caribbean 21-18.

Which brings us to the glorious finalists. Will it be animation or acquisition carrying the day as the top Disney movie? Cast your votes to see!

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SAFD: Although I think it is proper that an animated feature will likely win, as animation is the foundation of Disney, The Empire Strikes Back is the superior film and probably my third or fourth most watched movie (behind Raiders and Back to the Future and even with A New Hope). So, Empire gets my vote.

I’ll take a moment to address something odd with the Star Wars franchise that I’ve seen in recent years, the endorsement of or even advocation for watching the films in chronological order for first time viewers. I think this is pure insanity and can only be done by those with complete ignorance to the power and intention of storytelling or hatred of Star Wars. We are meant to meet all of the characters in A New Hope as fresh faces about whom we have no prior knowledge. I’ll avoid spoilers (even if it’s probably unnecessary) but there are things that happen in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back that fall completely flat if you’ve watched 1/2/3 first and things in 1/2/3 that don’t carry nearly the emotional weight if you haven’t seen 4/5 first. After the first time through, knock yourself out, watch them in any order you want; but to do the movies any degree of justice, they must be watched 4/5/6/1/2/3 the first time through (or 4/5/1/2/3/6 which also works great narratively). <rant over>

Anyway, Lion King is a movie made by Disney that exists and is therefore a perfectly cromulent winner.
 
I’ll take a moment to address something odd with the Star Wars franchise that I’ve seen in recent years, the endorsement of or even advocation for watching the films in chronological order for first time viewers. I think this is pure insanity and can only be done by those with complete ignorance to the power and intention of storytelling or hatred of Star Wars. We are meant to meet all of the characters in A New Hope as fresh faces about whom we have no prior knowledge. I’ll avoid spoilers (even if it’s probably unnecessary) but there are things that happen in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back that fall completely flat if you’ve watched 1/2/3 first and things in 1/2/3 that don’t carry nearly the emotional weight if you haven’t seen 4/5 first. After the first time through, knock yourself out, watch them in any order you want; but to do the movies any degree of justice, they must be watched 4/5/6/1/2/3 the first time through (or 4/5/1/2/3/6 which also works great narratively). <rant over>
Could not agree more! But…

I’ll concede that once one has viewed in the correct 4/5/6, 1/2/3 order, they should re-watch in chronological order, minus I because nobody needs to torture themselves twice, and with the side stories added in thusly:

SW 2,3, Solo
Andor, Rogue
SW 4,5,6
Mandalorian S1 and S2
Book of Boba Fett
Mandalorian S3
SW 7,8,9

(Caveat that I’ve never watched Clone Wars and I’m sure it fits in there somewhere, but my brain refuses to accept SW in animated form so I’ll leave that to others to determine.)
 
Lion King is one of my favorite movies ever.

But so much of my life is owed to/because of Star Wars.

And therefore, I have to pick Empire, acquired or not.
 


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