So, in thinking about the Disney studio output of the 1960s and 1970s, I began with surveying its films and classifying them by genre. Eventually, my treatise will focus on the 1970s, but I start in the 1960s, laying the groundwork and establishing recognizable trends. In thinking about Disney, one notices almost immediately how outside the discourse of American cinema these films are. I mean, have you noticed how when discussions of American films comes up how rare it is for a Disney film to be included in context? In general, Disney films of this era have no resonance in a cinematic consciousness. I have theories about this, but I have not digested them well enough to explain them here.
Anyway ... during this era, comedies far outstrip any other film genre released by Disney. I count 12 comedies in the 1960s and double that number in the 1970s, which points to their supposed success, or at least the confidence the studio brass had in them to bring in the money. These include the two Medfield College movies The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and Son of Flubber (1963); the two Merlin Jones movies The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) and The Monkey's Uncle (1965); their spiritual successors the three Dexter Riley films (also set at Medfield) The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975); and the three Love Bug movies The Love Bug (1968), Herbie Rides Again (1974), and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977). Most of the films of this type are sitcoms, formulaic comedies involving a device or invention (based in magic or in "science") or some other object or animal wreaking hilarious havoc on the protagonists. Too many of them involve chimpanzees. But scattered among them are comedies that don't fit this pattern, one-off films that don't feel that the next year they would turn up as a television series. In the 1970s, this includes such titles as Snowball Express (1972), Superdad (1973), Candleshoe (1978), and The North Avenue Irregulars (1979). (By the way, I make no judgments at this time on the merits of these films.)
I count eight dramas in the 1960s but only half that number in the 1970s: Smith! (1969), The Wild Country (1970), Ride a Wild Pony (1976), and The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976). At least the first two of these could honestly be called Westerns. And here's where things get tricky, because legitimately included here could be the science fiction, Westerns, adventures, and animal adventure films. But I have sussed these out into their own genres:
Science Fiction: The Black Hole (1979). This is the final movie in this survey.
Science Fiction Dramas: Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Return from Witch Mountain (1978). This second movie has enough comic elements to be considered a comedy (besides its [unintentional] silliness).
Westerns: The true Westerns Scandalous John (1971) and One Little Indian (1973)
Comedy Westerns (Blazing Saddles these are not): The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978), and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)
Adventures: The Island at the Top of the World (1974) and Treasure of Matecumbe (1976)
Animal Adventures: Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar (1967), King of the Grizzlies (1970), and Run Cougar Run (1972)
Other Animal Adventures That Involve Human Protagonists: Rascal (1969), The Biscuit Eater (1972), Napoleon and Samantha (1972), and The Bears and I (1974)
Documentary: The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures (1975). This was a cobbling-together of the True-Life Adventures series (shorts and features) of the 1950s and 1960s.
In addition, there are the animated features The AristoCats, Robin Hood, and The Rescuers (which is, of course, what most people are interested in and what most people think of when they think of Walt Disney); the musical fantasies Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Pete's Dragon; and the one musical The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.
This is about as far as I've gotten, though I have other observations (the sound quality, the constant and incessant scoring, the bad special effects) that I could expound upon once I have done further study. There's a lot to cover and a lot to think about.
By the way, when I say "1970s," I mean the movies released after Disney's death in 1966 and those not included in Leonard Maltin's book The Disney Films, which is all the flims released before 1967 with the exception of Charlie the Lonesome Cougar which for some reason Maltin doesn't cover. So my subject covers 56 films from Charlie the Lonesome Cougar to The Black Hole. A lot to chew.