Marathon Weekend 2027

[radiodome21]

@radiodome21 Congrats on the promotion. But sorry you cancelled your December trip!

Thanks! We just moved it to July which I’d much prefer anyway. I like my Disney hot and less crowded

 

[BigEeyore]

We just got back from a spring break trip to Disneyland so getting in my SAFD just under the wire -

Lion King
Empire

 

[camaker]

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!

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I think I gotta go with the Shakespearean lions over the space opera, but this was a hard choice!

 

[col1]

Lion King for me.

 

[DianaMB333]

Lion King without a doubt IMO

Happy SAFD!

 

[Novatrix]

SAFD: The Lion King

 

[Erika10021]

SAFD:

Gotta go with the original instead of the acquired. But if we were just going for movies that I enjoy, it'd be Empire by a hair.

Editted to add message to Camaker: you have done an amazing job with this! Thank you!

 

[Dopey 2020]

SAFD Going with Lion King. Tough choices, fun month, thanks @camaker

 

[Disney at Heart]

SAFD: I vote Lion King! Can you feel the love?

 

[lookingforsunshine]

safd: Lion King

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: gotta go with original over acquired for this one - LION KING

 

[Barca33Runner]

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.

 

[PrincessV]

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.)

 

[nancipants]

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.

 

[Barca33Runner]

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.)

Watching in chronological order (particularly after the addition of so much further content) can definitely serve the purpose of getting things straight about how and where everything fits. That has certainly become much more confusing as the years have passed and more retreads of the same time period have been added.

My only concern is with the original trilogy, which is the heart of Star Wars fandom, being hurt considerably as a story when the viewer knows things they aren’t meant to know. Perhaps Star Wars is so ubiquitous in society that I’m just yelling at clouds; but everything about the reveals throughout the original trilogy was so intentional. The were great movies not just because of the story itself, but the way the story is told.

 

[lhermiston]

Once upon a time, I made a ranking of my Top 25 movies with some buddies. Lion King came in at No. 5, Empire came in at No. 15, so this is easy peasy to me.

Even if it were closer, Lion King gets my nod for being a true Disney movie.

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>

When I introduced my oldest daughters to Star Wars a few years back, our watch order was 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6, which I stand by to this day. You get the big reveal in Empire, the "how did we get here" of the prequels, and then the conclusion with Jedi.

I'm also a total prequels apologist. Well, Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, anyway. Attack of the Clones is pretty not great, but Jar Jar Binks aside, I think there are some really great elements in Episodes 1 and 3.

After Empire, Star Wars became a vehicle for selling toys - you'll never convince me otherwise.