I recall when Disney released "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996), and though it was to the same high-quallity 2-D animation standards as all the others, it actually was less popular in theaters, and isn't talked about much; mostly because of its , um... "darker" tones in storytelling, innuendos, and more emotional content. I mean, the gypsy Esmeralda was actually a bit more on the intentionally sexy-side of Disney heroines (when's the last time you saw her in her own line of kids costumes or dolls or playsets compared to the other seven Disney Princesses?), and you're showing how religion could/can be used to suppress others' ideas and styles of life. Definitely not a fairy tale for kids. But, it's one of my favorites.

But then turn around two years later, and we get "Mulan" (1998), and it was a typical hit, even though there was a cross-dressing Chinese girl, and the pressures of living up to the hype and standards of men in society. But, if you have a little red dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy, and you include Donny Osmond singin' songs, how can you loose? (This one is also one of my favorites. The instrumental score- composed by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith- I am searching for a CD to.)
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CollectionDX Staff

At times its quite scary to think just how far Disney and American TV in general will go to sugar coat things for the sake of children. I think that Sentai does well in keeping its positive outlook whilst not sanitising life too much - then again it seems to have become a bit safe in the last 10 years or so. We seem to have both situations here in the UK. Power Rangers is cut further when it makes it to Jetix UK (plus the versions of Naruto they show are apparently cut so badly that it's difficult to follow the plot) yet we also have the likes of Doctor Who (marketed very much as a family show) that can be dark and violent at times and uplifting at others.