The Library of Congress has announced the 25 films for 2018 that will be added to the National Film Registry. NPR reported on this year’s selection which includes an animated Disney classic and three Fox films.
What’s happening:
- Since 1989, the Library of Congress has chosen 25 films each year that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and adds them to the National Film Registry.
- Among this years films are:
- Cinderella (1950) Disney
- Leave Her to Heaven (1945) FOX
- Pickup on South Street (1953) FOX
- Broadcast News (1987) FOX
- With the addition of this year’s films, the registry now lists 750 motion pictures.
- Movies chosen for the registry are not selected because they are the best films in history, but rather for their impact on American culture. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden told NPR, “These cinematic treasures must be protected because they document our history, culture, hopes and dreams.”
- Hayden makes the final decision for what will make the yearly list, however the public is welcome to make nominations.
- Films nominated can be any length or genre. The only requirement is that they are at least 10 years old.
D23 talks Cinderella:
D23 spoke with Disney animators the film’s impact on them, what makes Cinderella so special and why it’s worthy of preservation.
- Animator Mark Henn: “[Cinderella] was something the Studio needed. They needed to get back on their feet, get back in the game of feature animation that they basically started. The first time I saw Cinderella was in a little theater in the town where my dad grew up. I was just mesmerized—I loved to draw all the time as a kid and this was just amazing to me.”
- Mark Henn on the story: “There’s a simplicity to it, but within that simplicity there’s an elegance. Everything just came together.”
- Burny Mattinson on the film’s message: “But goodness overcame all of that. She got her wish, what she wanted to be—more than she wanted to be, really.”
- Burny Mattinson on the ending: “You don’t see it coming! It was so well done. You get a lump in your throat and you’re jumping up and down like the mice.”
- Ron Clements on Lady Tremaine: “She’s a really effective villain. No magic, no power—just attitude, really. Frank was such a great actor and there’s a very sculptural quality to the animation, so you can really see there’s a way he handled the stepmother that’s very strong and pretty scary and frightening.”
- Ron Clements on the dress destruction scene: “stays with you a lot, and probably had some influence on The Little Mermaid, [in the scene] where Triton destroys Ariel’s grotto. I see a connection there.”
- Ron Clements: “In my mind, when I think of what’s special about Disney, what does Disney do that nobody else would do? The way that’s done, there’s something just very unique and magical about that, finding a way to do a song that’s so inventive and sort of beautiful. At that point [Disney Animation] was still relatively new and still being created film by film. But [Cinderella] is an archetypal film in terms of that. It really helps set that feeling of what Disney is and what that archetypal Disney represents.”
Full list of 2018 films added to the registry:
- Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
- Broadcast News (1987)
- Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- Cinderella (1950)
- Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
- Dixon-Wanamaker Expedition to Crow Agency (1908)
- Eve’s Bayou (1997)
- The Girl Without a Soul (1917)
- Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People (1984)
- Hearts and Minds (1974)
- Hud (1963)
- The Informer (1935)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
- Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
- Monterey Pop (1968)
- My Fair Lady (1964)
- The Navigator (1924)
- On the Town (1949)
- One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
- Pickup on South Street (1953)
- Rebecca (1940)
- The Shining (1980)
- Smoke Signals (1998)
- Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898)