I like animation I like cartoons I like animated movies I’ve been a lifelong fan of Disney movies so I watched and ranked all of them. These reviews are mostly taken from my Letterboxd and edited to fit this list format better. This project took me so long that three new Disney movies were released between when I started this project and now so I just wanna get into the list I don’t WANT to write an intro I don’t WANT to you can’t MAKE ME

64. Wish (2023)

This shit is so stupid.

I mean, what are the stakes? One of the selling points of this film was a return to truly evil Disney villains but the conflict of this movie is essentially “Oh nooo, King Magnifico won’t grant the wishes and the people won’t be able to wish anymore!!” Look, I understand the importance of having hope during hard times (I watched this on the first day of Trump’s 2nd term), but you gotta give me a little more for me to be able to connect with your story! The conflict is so bare bones it just gives me nothing to work with. There’s no real danger, there’s no relationship development beyond the absolute most surface level for the film to be able to function at all, there’s just nothing. 

Of course, this film is also not helped by animation that looks like it belongs on a PS4 launch title. I get what they were trying to do, combining 2D and 3D aesthetics to honor the various animation styles Disney has worked with over the years. It looks fine enough in stills but the movement is so wonky and unnatural. And SPEAKING of unnatural… the songs in this are so dogshit. Not one line flows properly. They’re so full of modern jargon that completely clash with the fantasy setting, more so than any other Disney movie that attempts this. This whole thing is a stupid mess, don’t waste your time and just watch Once Upon A Studio if you want a celebration of Disney’s 100th anniversary with some actual heart and genuinely honors the history of the studio. 

63. The Sword In The Stone (1963)

This movie makes me feel insane. Why does Wart have three completely distinct voices? Why do they keep switching every other sentence? Why didn’t they try to hide this at all? Merlin sucks in this too. He’s so obnoxious and unlikable and is a pretty shit mentor. He just lets Wart almost die numerous times and also lets him get harassed by that squirrel when he’s transforming into different animals? That’s not endearing to me. Bad teacher! Do better! The songs are bad too, completely unmemorable and half of them are just We Have Bippity Boppity Boo At Home. The jokes don’t land either, they drag them out for so long and the whole film is painfully unfunny. 

The pacing in general is just atrocious in this film. Early Disney films in general have pacing issues for me. I’m sure it was a mix of stylistic choice and being some of the first people to actually make feature length animated films. After a quarter century of making animated films though there’s really no excuse for the pacing to be this awful outside of bad stylistic choices. 90% of this movie is just Antics with Merlin turning himself and Wart into animals as part of his “training” (which feels like the first idea they had after realizing they didn’t know how to stretch the story of King Arthur out to 70 minutes). They spend so much time with animal hijinks that the titular Sword that is in the Stone doesn’t come back into the movie until 75 minutes in! It just shows up at the very end! And when Wart does become king he’s like “ohh man I don’t want to be king Merlin this is a serious problem this sounds like a conflict that we can explore further in this story” and Merlin just goes “no it’s not” and the movie ENDS! THAT’S THE FINAL SCENE THAT’S HOW THIS MOVIE ENDS! YOU GIVE ME AN INTERESTING CONFLICT AT THE LAST SECOND AND THEN JUST DROP IT??? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ANYTHING IN THIS MOVIE????? BAD FILMMAKER. DO BETTER.

62. Pocahontas (1995)

Why did they make this? What made them think this was a good idea. I get that, especially at this time, it was kind of Disney’s whole thing to take dark fairy tales and make them more friendly and appropriate for children but like. Pocahontas isn’t a fairy tale. She was a real little girl who was raped and kidnapped by white colonizers but instead now she’s an adult and in love with one of them. Yuck!

Outside of that mess it’s also just very boring! The best character is the hummingbird because it tries to stop the romance between Pocahontas and John Smith and as such was the only character I connected with. Not a fan of the music either, even in the era of Peak Disney Music, they’re so forgettable outside of the certified banger Colors of the Wind (and the very unfortunate Savages, I don’t remember that once being as bad as it was, even as a villain song). And even if the backgrounds are gorgeous, the character animation in this is… uncharacteristically bad. Are we sure this was what the A team was working on while the B team worked on Lion King?? I guess they were going for a more realistic look to try and fail to win Best Picture but all the human characters are sooo ugly and unexpressive. It sucks! It sucks that this is right in the middle of the best string of films Disney ever released! An unfortunate movie all around. 

61. Fun And Fancy Free (1947)

For a long time I assumed this would be my bottom pick. When I reached the trilogy of Make Mine Music, this, and Melody Time, I decided that instead of spreading all of these post-war shorts compilations packaged as feature films out, I would just watch them all in one day. I’m glad I did this and got them all out of the way but hoooo boy it got tough to sit through, and never more tough than with this film. 

I expected to come out of this film hating Bongo, the short about a bear with a musical number about slapping your partner, the most. And it’s pretty tough to sit through! The plot is paper thin, the characters are annoying, the musical number about slapping your partner is… a musical number about slapping your partner. At one point this was planned to be a full length feature film and it almost certainly would’ve been last place had that been developed. 

However. The other short in this film is a full on classic, Mickey & The Beanstalk. I was SO excited for Mickey & The Beanstalk. It’s a great take on the story and features those scenes with Donald going insane from hunger that have become so iconic. I knew that in a sea of forgettable short films, I had something truly great waiting for me in the second half of Fun And Fancy Free. The thing about this film though is that it has a host, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, and a framing device of him telling stories at a birthday party to link the two shorts together. What I didn’t know going into this film is that in THIS rendition of Mickey & The Beanstalk, his fuckass puppets talk over the entire thing. I felt like I was going insane. I couldn’t enjoy the film because I had obnoxious puppets giving inane comments the entire time. I was never angrier during this project than when I realized this short had running commentary. It felt like such a betrayal, something I knew I would enjoy in the midst of this post war slog just snatched away from me. Being pretty far removed from this watch, I don’t have that same anger anymore, but Fun And Fancy Free is still one of the hardest Disney movies to sit through. 

60. Dinosaur (2000)

Yeah so I don’t remember anything about this. All I wrote for my Letterboxd review was a bed emoji. Don’t remember a single character’s name, an actor who plays them, a single story beat. I assume there’s meteors. Looks like a tech demo. Next. 

59. Chicken Little (2005)

Disney’s big swing to do the Shrek formula better than Shrek and failing miserably. The tone and comedy of Shrek was clearly something that Disney, or at least this team, was just not ready to do because this movie has such a needlessly mean world where pretty much every character is just the worst person you’ve ever met. The few characters that aren’t totally mean spirited are just completely obnoxious and only there to make genuinely the most forced pop culture references I’ve ever seen in a film. Considering the era of franchises and legacy sequels we live in today that’s saying something!! The script as a whole is honestly impressive in how many strange directions it goes in. The baseball side tangent that ends up amounting to nothing was,, fun? And congrats to this movie for having the most out of nowhere romance subplot of all time. What genuinely bums me out though is the Chicken Little/Buck Cluck relationship because I see what they were going for! Their complete inability to communicate with each other could’ve been interesting and even moving as the film explored it more and gave them, idk, a proper arc?? But the script is just so poorly written that they were never able to execute the emotional beats and they just end up making Buck Cluck the worst guy of all time who has a totally unearned change of heart by the end! It’s a shame cause I actually saw potential in what most people consider the worst part of the film :(

I hate to say it cause it was Disney’s first ever CGI film that isn’t a 90 minute tech demo about dinosaurs but man this film is fucking ugly. All the characters move and are designed like they’re in Home on the Range but the shading and textures are trying to be more realistic and they just completely clash. This movie is a total eyesore. I just didn’t enjoy looking at it. Disney would, of course, go on to basically master CGI animation and everybody has to start somewhere but I think even Toy Story’s graphics have aged better than this. I wonder if this film would have the same reputation it has if it was 2D animated. Of course a different animation style wouldn’t save this disjointed, mean, unfunny, dated mess of a film. A real low point for the studio. I ate a chicken sandwich while watching it and I hope it was Buck

58. Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018)

There’s a lot about the original Wreck-It Ralph that impresses me. Something that only becomes more impressive with time is the amount of product placement and existing IP in the original film that’s naturally integrated into the story and worldbuilding. The pre-existing characters don’t draw too much attention to themselves and it’s easy to accept them as part of the film’s world. You’re not gonna believe this, but Ralph Breaks The Internet… doesn’t do this! This film just throws every online IP it can get the rights to at you with far less tact and thought. Some of them are well integrated (the GeoCities joke made me laugh) but most of them just make me roll my eyes. While the first film’s worldbuilding is really memorable, this film just blends in with a lot of the other Look At All Our IPs! films from the last 10 years, on the same level as Ready Player One or Space Jam 2. 

The sloppy brand integration isn’t my real issue with this film though. It’s Ralph. Why is he written that way? Don’t write him like that! He’s a grown ass man! Sure he has his immature moments in the first film but it’s one aspect of his personality in what WAS a very well rounded character. A story about him being insecure in his friendship with Vanellope could’ve been done well with the first movie’s Ralph that actually had some emotional maturity. For some reason he’s written in this like a manchild that makes him infuriating to watch. He and Vanellope are such a balanced duo in the first film and in the years since then Vanellope seemed to steal all of Ralph’s emotional maturity AND brain cells. Credit to the movie that they at least see his actions as WRONG and they spend the climax dealing with his clingyness and insecurity but it’s frustrating that they had to rewrite so much of his character to execute this conflict. Even if this was his first appearance he would be a really annoying whiny clingy character but the fact that he was once one of modern Disney’s best written characters makes this film genuinely sad to watch.

57. Home On The Range (2004)

A lot of Disney’s weakest movies are ones that just don’t give me much to say. Anybody remember Home On The Range? Any beats? What happens in this movie? All I remember is being annoyed at Cow Played By Roseanne Barr and Horse Played By Cuba Gooding Jr. Cow Played By Judi Dench was the easy highlight of the movie for me, I liked her snooty uppity cow character. And I like that they just made Steve Buscemi a character in the movie, if this was live action his character design would be exactly the same. Man I really have nothing to say about this beyond “there are famous actors in this movie.” Unfunny and unmemorable.

56. Make Mine Music (1946)

The first of Disney’s post-war package films, and one that I don’t have much to say about. I didn’t really dislike any of these shorts, and some I did really enjoy. The 2nd one with all the kids dancing to jazz music was my favorite, very expressive animation and a really neat time capsule of the late 40s. Unfortunately it all comes together to be less than the sum of its parts. There’s really no cohesion to this collection of shorts, but watching this feels less like watching a movie and more like those 3+ hour YouTube compilations of old cartoons, it leads to a disjointed experience overall. Fantasia if it didn’t slay, essentially.

55. Melody Time (1948)

Not the last of Disney’s 1940s package films, but thankfully the last one that’s just a series of shorts slapped together. Really enjoyed the butterfly short. Very vibrant and energetic, a jolt of life in this fairly dull era of Disney history and the closest any of the package films come to capturing the magic of Fantasia. Most memorable short is the short where Little Toot crashes a boat into New York City, presumably killing hundreds of people. Don’t watch this, Make Mine Music and Fun And Fancy Free in one day, your brain will turn into mush.

54. Saludos Amigos (1942)

Kind of interesting historically as a piece of Good Neighbor Policy-era WW2 propaganda but as a movie this is just nothing. No reason to watch this unless you’re a Disney completionist or you’re interested in US-Latin American relations of the early 1940s. Donald Duck does meet José Carioca at the end, so that’s pretty cool. Is that why the tagline calls this Disney’s “Gayest Musical Technicolor Adventure?” 

53. Raya & The Last Dragon (2021)

I’ve seen this one three times now and it just gets worse every time. It’s fun jumping around from the different chiefdoms and seeing the different environments and thank GOD the side characters that join Raya and Sisu’s squad are likable because otherwise I wouldn’t like a single character here. Sisu is SO much more annoying than you expect her to be. Why does this ancient dragon talk the way she does?? Why does she use fuckin. school group project metaphors and generally talk like every other character Awkwafina has ever played, it’s not charming. It’s just obnoxious. Her views on trust that the film constantly stresses is annoying too, though it wouldn’t be if the film at least tried to challenge her point of view and didn’t see her position as unambiguously correct. As for every other character I just. don’t care I don’t give a shit man. They’re badly written like Namaari switching sides and personalities on a whim, or they’re written like Raya where they’re fine I guess but they just leave no impression on me. I just don’t care about this movie man, thank god for Encanto cause otherwise Disney is in such a rough place this decade.

52. Brother Bear (2003) 

I went into this wanting to like it more than I thought I did and I ended up liking it less than I thought! Some truly incredible background paintings and solid animal animation wasn’t enough to save this movie sadly. Every character is either forgettable or god damn ANNOYING, this movie is really batting zero on side characters. Koda has cute moments but they played too heavily into the annoying kid trope and made him annoying to the audience too. And the moose are just insufferable, you can tell the writers thought they were a lot funnier than they actually were. Way to waste Rick Moranis!! The only side character I really liked was Michael Clarke Duncan bear, he’s chill. 

What really makes this movie fall apart is the story, especially with some lazy writing near the end. It starts off strong enough but the third act hits and it just falls off a cliff. Covering up the big reveal of Kenai actually being a human who hunted bears with a Phil Collins song blocking all the dialogue is sooo cheap and REALLY dampens the impact of that scene. And then there’s the ending when his dead brother just. Fixes everything??? What the hell???? I’d completely forgotten how this movie ended and I can see why. It’s a massive cop out that doesn’t give Kenai a chance to fully complete his arc. It’s a shame because I was genuinely looking forward to seeing how this film resolves. It’s a shame that a movie that had some potential just kept making bad choices that ultimately ruined the experience for me. Bears are awesome and deserve a better movie.

51. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

It’s very funny to me that The Rescuers of all movies was the first Disney movie to get a sequel. This is just really forgettable and boring. Bernard and Bianca are two of my least favorite Disney protagonists and they’re so weak here, for most of the runtime they feel like background characters in their own movie. The proposal/love triangle subplot is also really uninteresting and predictable. Frank the lizard would 100% have a reputation as one of the most annoying Disney characters if anybody remembered this movie. It’s not all bad though, it’s cool to see how much better their animation got over 13 years. Was also cool to see a bit more of the secret mouse society in this movie, the best scene by far was the scene where all the mice relayed the info about the kid getting kidnapped from Australia to New York. Also liked the hammy George C. Scott performance for the villain, he was pretty fun. John Candy you are so missed. 

Can we go back in time and pretend this came out before The Little Mermaid? That way the renaissance has a clean start instead of having a gap movie between it and Beauty And The Beast. If any time travelers want to go back and swap their release dates that’d be much appreciated. 

50. The Black Cauldron (1985)

A great movie if you like gorgeous animation! A horrible movie if you like good characters. 

I love the unique aesthetic of this film. The 80s were an amazing decade for dark fantasy and you can tell a lot of love and hard work went into the art direction. Unfortunately it’s not enough to distract from just how bad the characters are here. Taran feels like you sent the default Mii to the 1300s to fight an evil king. He’s such a flat, boring protagonist. That evil king, the Horned King, has a famously good design and he’s such a great villain… on paper. In practice, he turns out to be incredibly easy to defeat and he ends up not actually feeling threatening. It’s a shame that everything involving his character turns out to be so anticlimactic because his design really is top tier. We should kill Grogi with hammers.

You can tell that there was a lot of behind the scenes fighting over the tone of this film, never committing to being either a full-on dark fantasy or a goofy fantasy-comedy. It all leads to a messy, extremely inconsistent film. Disney needs to stop doing films with medieval settings dirty!

49. Dumbo (1941)

Thank god Dumbo himself is so heartachingly cute and his gay little mouse sidekick is so charming because outside of them this movie is kinda… bad? Dare I say? At the very least it’s a very noticeable step down from Disney’s first three feature-length films. A paper thin plot, bad pacing, and an ending so sudden it feels like they could’ve gotten another 30 minutes of story out of it. It’s a very unsatisfying conclusion. The hater elephants get very annoying VERY fast. And then there’s the racism. Oh man. I’m not even talking about the crows, which is this film’s most infamous moment of racism, even though of course I don’t want to see Jim Crow stereotypes in a Disney movie. What really made me nauseous however happens much earlier in the film. The roustabouts song is ROUGH. The song, matched with its animation, is so dehumanizing and genuinely uncomfortable to sit through. I genuinely can’t believe that more people don’t talk about this song, especially considering that Dumbo is already a film known for its racism.

It’s definitely not all bad, a movie with flaws this glaring wouldn’t make the top 50 if it didn’t have some legitimately good elements. There are some genuinely exciting scenes within the circus, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Casey Jr. song, and Baby Mine and Pink Elephants are two of the greatest moments of Walt Disney’s entire career. But the whole thing ends up being a mess. I watched all of these movies in release order and, unfortunately, this was the project’s first miss. 

48. Moana 2 (2024)

For a while, this was the last movie I had to watch for this project. What an anticlimax. This was… fine. Serviceable. Pretty unmemorable, although the more I think about it the less credit I want to give it. The animation, I will say, looks really good for what was originally 3 episodes of a TV show. Hits a lot of the same beats as the first. The songs aren’t as good as the first. Moana and Maui are essentially less remarkable versions of themselves from the first. The side characters don’t leave as much of an impression as the ones from the first (except Moni, he’s so gay for Maui and I love it). The fact that I have so little to say about this beyond its relationship to the first film is pretty damning, but I had a fun enough time with this. Don’t make a habit of frankensteining your cancelled TV shows into theatrically released films though Disney. Don’t throw your good originals onto streaming and market the shit out of your 5/10 franchise films in theaters okay? That’s literally the exact opposite of what you as a studio should be doing.

47. Strange World (2022)

This movie frustrates me. It has some pretty cool worldbuilding, some inventive and fun creature design, a really good reveal near the end of the film that completely recontextualizes what we’ve seen until then, but it’s all in service of a story and characters that I just don’t care for. They just fall flat. Searcher, Meridian and Ethan make for a cute family, but cute is about as much credit as I can give them. As individual characters they don’t leave an impact on me. The Jaeger/Searcher father/son relationship is a bit more interesting, but their arc is played pretty safe and predictably. Disney was on a bit of a familial trauma kick in 2021-22 and while Encanto and Turning Red both explore this concept with a lot of depth and nuance, this stays pretty comfortably surface level for its runtime. It’s not all bad of course, I still enjoy the creature designs and the titular Strange World they inhabit, and I appreciate the nods to old adventure novels as well. This has the bones of a really good family adventure film, but it’s all in the follow through, and they just didn’t follow through here.

46. The Rescuers (1977)

Okay I’m sorry why does the ENTIRE CONTINENT OF AFRICA have one delegate in the Rescue Aid Society but every individual European country gets their own representative??? J.K. Rowling-ass worldbuilding.

I went into this film with essentially zero prior knowledge. All I knew about The Rescuers was that it was about mice and that there used to be a naked woman in it for 0.5 seconds. My favorite part of this was the background paintings (where you could once find that woman!). They’re uniquely dark and dingy for a Disney film and they really help in worldbuilding. This film is also famous for its villain, Madame Medusa, who feels like the midpoint between Cruella De Vil and Ursula. Because of this, she doesn’t stand out much within the Disney Villain Pantheon, but she’s still really fun to watch on screen, helped by a killer Geraldine Page vocal performance. Also enjoyed everything with the orphan girl Penny, it’s all really cute and my favorite scene of the whole film is when the cat comforts her in the orphanage. A very tender moment. 

Unfortunately… it’s yet another film where the main protagonists just leave no impression on me. They, and really everything involving mice in this film, were the weak points for me. It all feels weirdly underdeveloped? I know it’s a silly kids movie and it’s not that deep or whatever but I would have really liked to know more about the weird underground mouse society that exists in this film. To be honest, I don’t really see why this was such a big success when it came out? I didn’t focus much on contemporary response when watching this film, but I was surprised to see how warm critics were towards this film. Some said The Rescuers would usher in a new golden age for the studio, and I just don’t see what stands out about this film. (This assessment is also really funny in hindsight, considering how badly most of the 80s went for Disney). Fine movie, but I don’t remember much about it. Maybe it just needed a Sherlock Holmes rat.

45. Lady And The Tramp (1955)

Dogs!

It’s dogs! And weird racist cats that come out of nowhere. Thankfully unlike Dumbo or the upcoming Peter Pan this film’s racism is only really for one scene, but one racist scene is two too many. Outside of this, I really don't have much to say about this film. It’s dogs! It’s cute! Tramp calls Lady a bitch which is pretty wild to hear in an animated movie for kids. Loved the Italian chefs, the date scene really deserves to be as iconic as it is. What the hell was Aunt Sarah’s problem?

44. Frozen 2 (2019)

It’s fine? I watched this months ago at the time of writing and I’m struggling to actually recall a scene from this movie. It all washes over me. Pretty set pieces and some impressive particle physics flexing kept my attention, but evidently I wasn’t invested in the story at all and I feel like these characters didn’t have much to do compared to the first movie. Like the biggest thing I took away from this besides it being pretty to look at was that awful running gag of Kristoff not knowing how to propose and Anna reading everything he said in the worst possible way. It felt so forced and made me want to bash my head in after the 2nd occurrence. Into The Unknown is a banger, Elsa’s new design is pretty. How the hell are they gonna make two more of these?

43. Bolt (2008)

Being released in 2008, and a major source of childhood nostalgia for people my age, I’ve seen quite a few people argue that Bolt is where the 2nd Disney Renaissance (or at least their return to good movies) of the late 2000s/2010s truly began… I’m not so sure.

The concept of this film is great. The idea of a dog actor realizing his whole world is fake and having to exist in the real world for the first time is a really smart and fun idea for an animated movie. Unfortunately the execution left me kinda bored. I never got invested in Bolt as a character (do you see a theme for films that are low on the list) and there aren’t a lot of memorable beats during his adventure. This film in general just felt kind of boring and bland. The story felt predictable, it’s not that funny, and the animation style is relatively drab and muted, none of the vibrancy of its predecessor Meet The Robinson. Maybe it was to make the story feel more grounded but it didn’t really gel for me. 

There are two aspects of this film I really loved, however. The first is Mittens. I adore this scrunkly little alley cat. She’s a great straight man to Bolt and Rhino and her common sense constantly being outweighed by Bolt’s delusion brings all of the movie’s funniest moments. And even if the jaded alley cat trope is fairly common, I really liked learning more about her backstory. They take it in a familiar direction, but it still added to her character in a way I enjoyed. The other aspect is this film’s EXCELLENT climax. Having Bolt go from questioning his reality and if his owner even loves him to using his on the job training to actually save her life was a really fun, surprisingly intense sequence. They raise the stakes in a very realistic way and watching this dog and his teenage owner have to navigate a film set burning to the ground is really tense. Had I watched this movie as a kid this scene would have scared the shit out of me. As a whole, this is probably a film I would’ve enjoyed more had I had any real connection to it from my childhood, but as is, it was mostly just dull. Mittens innocent! 

42. Oliver & Company (1988)

From one adventure with talking pets to another. This movie isn’t bad, just fairly by the numbers (being an adaptation of one of the most famous stories ever written doesn’t help). It probably could’ve used another 15-20 minutes to flesh these characters out a bit, everything goes by way too fast. I remember being shocked when I realized I was already at the climax. It’s a fun time, but not something that’s stuck with me since I’ve watched it. Going into my rewatch, my first time viewing this film since elementary school, I couldn’t recall a single scene… with the exception of Why Should I Worry? because come onnnn. Billy Joel was perfect casting for this film, his music takes me to 70s and 80s New York City more effectively than almost any other musician’s, and he brings one of Disney’s best ever pop songs to this film. Plus it’s really funny that the only film role he ever took was playing The Artful Dodger but as a dog. The Artful Dogger. 

Despite its fairly low placement on this list, there’s a lot to like about Oliver & Company. The NYC setting is really well done, there’s a lot of great character designs, both animal and human, and it’s funny just how deeply 1980s it all is. It starts with a Huey Lewis song! This movie is a damn time capsule. It’s also worth mentioning this also has one of the most underrated crazy villain deaths in Disney history. A fun time, but its follow-up would prove to be a very welcome change of pace for the studio.

41. The Aristocats (1970)

I got one more talking pets movie in me

This was actually one of the Disney movies I watched the most as a kid, so going into this project I was very curious to see how well it held up. Watching it in the context of other Disney movies like I did made it Very clear to me just how much this was trying to be Lady & The Tramp a la One Hundred & One Dalmations… but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Everything with Duchess, O’Malley and the kittens was pretty great, they’re a very cute and believable family. The rest of the characters are very okay. The side character animals mostly got on my nerves (the mouse is innocent, we love the mouse). The jazz cats are pretty fun and the vibrant animation during their musical numbers is a treat to watch but one of them is a racist stereotype so I can’t even enjoy them! That was one part of Lady & The Tramp they didn’t need to bring back. Also I obviously don’t condone cat murder but I understand the villain Edgar. If I was a butler for decades and my boss left her ENTIRE estate to her CATS I think I’d have to murder somebody too. Ultimately, like the last few entries, this is a very flawed but very watchable movie that gets a lot of mileage out of being about silly pets.

Did you know this is the biggest movie of 1970 on Letterboxd? By far! Flop year honestly.

40. The Three Caballeros (1944)

One of the final 1940s package films to discuss, The Three Caballeros is Saludos Amigos if it slayed. They serve the same purpose of being Good Neighbor Policy-era showcases of Latin American culture for American audiences, but this film does a much better job at being more than a weird historical artifact than its predecessor. The first 20 minutes are pretty slow (not a great sign for a 70 minute movie) but once José shows up to give Donald a tour of Brazil the film really picks up. While Saludos Amigos has a much slower, relaxed pace with moments of excitement, The Three Caballeros has a very high-energy tone throughout that makes it a really fun time. Panchito Pistole’s introduction scene is one of the highlights of ANY early Disney film, it’s such a massive jolt of energy in an already high energy film. While The Three Caballeros are still well known characters, this film has been all but forgotten, and I think it’s worth a watch even today! If nothing else, watch it to see Donald Duck’s status as a bicon get firmly planted here. 

39. The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh (1977)

Is this just 3 shorts from years before this film was released stitched together? Yes. Does it have the youngest target audience of any WDAS movie? Yes. Did I watch this movie religiously as a child, giving me tons of nostalgia for it as a result? Yes. Is everybody who lives in the Hundred Acre Woods kinda stupid? Yes. Do Tigger and Rabbit have something going on? Absolutely. The Blustery Day was my favorite segment. 

38. Fantasia 2000 (1999)

It makes sense that Disney ended the 20th century with a film like this, a sequel to their third ever film to showcase how far animation had come in the 60-year interim. It’s a nice victory lap, both for the GOATed decade Disney just had as well as for their entire history up to that point. And it’s a fairly worthy victory lap. Rhapsody In Blue is the obvious highlight, with the most unique visual style of the entire film as well as the easiest characters to connect with out of any short. The music and visuals work so well together to paint a picture of all walks of New York City life, they make for probably my favorite individual short in any Disney anthology film. The rest of the shorts are decent. The quality is much higher than most of their 1940s anthologies, but I also think the batting average of the original Fantasia is better. Enjoyed the flamingo with his yo-yo, as well as Donald’s arc because I like silly things. I also think the dated, late 90s CGI of this film is charming. It does what it sets out to do, it shows the state of theatrical animation in 1999, warts and all. As for the celebrity cameos between each short… keep Penn & Teller and Angela Lansbury, the rest can go.

While neither this nor the original Fantasia are among my absolute favorite Disney films (spoilers for slightly higher on this list), I think these films are super cool and something I wish Disney did more often. A Fantasia film every 20-25 years would be such a cool way to showcase the evolution of Disney as an animation studio. I know this film didn’t make a lot of money and I know the audience for new Fantasia films would be pretty niche. But I wish Disney would still make more of them for the sake of the art. Maybe one day they’ll consider doing that again. 

37. Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

One of the BIG ones. The first animated feature film Walt Disney Animation, or any American film studio, ever released. The only animated Disney movie I had to study in film school (twice, for a Women in Film class and a History of American Film class specifically). The movie that started this whole project over two years ago(?!)... and it’s one I respect more than I actually like. Snow White is more interesting as a representation for depictions of women in film, being both maternal and infantilized at the same time and following the Culture of Domesticity that was so prevalent in the 19th and 20th centuries, than she is as an actual character. I also don’t want to go too hard on any structural issues considering this movie was literally the first of its kind with no blueprint to follow, but oh my god the pacing. The pacing in this movie is pretty atrocious and it makes the experience less enjoyable. Did the song about the seven dwarfs learning how to wash their hands need to be longer than the entire first act??? 

I can nitpick and analyze this movie all day, but honestly I don’t want to do that. This movie is too charming and FAR too important historically for me to actually dislike it. Most of its faults are products of its time, whether that be a lack of good representation for women in media or the fact that this was literally the first American animated movie ever produced. Plus, more than any other Disney film, it makes me feel like I’m in Fantasyland at Disneyland. I’m always just a bit happier with my life when I feel like I’m in Fantasyland at Disneyland. A solid start to one of the most impactful studios that film has ever seen.

36. Winnie The Pooh (2011)

I turned this movie on and just kind of vibed to it the whole time. The ideal way to watch a Winnie The Pooh film. These characters are endlessly charming and I always love spending time with them. This is also (as of 2025) Disney’s last 2D animated film. Even if this is a very low stakes story, you can tell the animators made the most of it and had a ton of fun with these characters, especially in their facial expressions, which is the biggest step up from the 70s Winnie The Pooh film (this is why Rabbit is the MVP of this movie). The highlight of the whole film, maybe the whole franchise, is the scene where everyone is stuck in a hole. Seriously! It’s by far the funniest part of this film, with these not so bright characters trying their best to get out of the hole and Rabbit slowly going insane throughout. Don’t really have much to say about this one, it’s a nice, fun time, and I wish Disney would make more of these films every once in a while. We’d be better for it.

35. Bambi (1942)

A highlight of the early years for sure. I could watch these animals just frolic around, living their lives in this gorgeously painted forest for hours. The animation is so impressive. There’s famous stories of animators observing real life deer and other forest animals to get their movements just right, and that work really paid off. They manage to translate those movements into animation very impressively. Bambi is a film full of lovable, entertaining characters, with Thumper having the distinction of being the funniest Disney character up to this point. Even its more infamous darker elements I think are incorporated really well. Nature, and humanity, are fucked up, and that has to coexist with the prettier and gentler scenes that make up the bulk of this movie. A worthy ending to the first era of Walt Disney Animation, before we got stuck with package films for the rest of the decade.

34. Peter Pan (1953)

This movie is infuriating because it is SO close to being great. It’s so full of childlike wonder and there’s so many iconic characters who have stood the test of time and Never Land is such an exciting setting and then BOOM disgusting racism. Look, I know it’s part of the source material, but there’s something so fucked about taking Native Americans, real people who really exist with real cultures that should be taken seriously, and lumping them in with all the fantastical elements like fairies and flying and kids not having to grow up. And of course their depiction itself is pure insensitive stereotyping. It’s just gross! It was bad in the 1910s, it was bad in the 1950s, and it’s bad now.

Thankfully this isn’t a situation like Dumbo. There’s more than enough to like in Peter Pan that keeps it from being a disaster. Like I mentioned, Never Land is a great setting, as is Captain Hook’s ship, home to goofy scenes of one of my all-time favorite Disney villains. Tinker Bell is hilarious and even more of a jerk than you remember. The scene where the mermaids nearly drown Wendy is so out of pocket. Basically any time people are beefing with a 12 year old girl this movie is excellent. I also got emotional at the ending, why does nobody talk about it??? Absolute slam dunk. While it may have some of the lowest lows this studio ever produced, Peter Pan is otherwise a very solid, well-rounded film, very worthy of being considered a classic.

33. Cinderella (1950)

Completely forgot that a full 50% of this movie is a Tom and Jerry cartoon but otherwise Cinderella is pretty great. I absolutely loved this one as a kid and when the story is actually focused on the titular Cinderella it still has all the charm and magic I remembered. It’s genuinely powerful watching Cinderella face some of the worst abuse you’ll see in a Disney movie (FUCK her step-“family” for real) and staying so resilient and optimistic about life. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo is one of my favorite sequences of any early Disney film, one of those scenes so full of whimsy and magic that reminds me why I like this studio so much in the first place. Seeing Cinderella eventually get treated well by characters who aren’t annoying is genuinely cathartic. I had to dock a few points because the mice did really get on my nerves throughout this film, but otherwise this is a great return to full length films and kicks off one of Disney’s stronger and most iconic periods.

32. Frozen (2013)

Good songs, a great score, and fantastic visuals help make up for characters that I honestly don’t care for. They’re among Disney’s most well-known and I just struggled to connect with any of them. Anna’s very 2010s quirkiness got a little exhausting at times but since we spend the most time with her she’s the one I ended up feeling the most for. She and Kristoff are cute. Elsa is probably my favorite character here and I like that she got a bigger role in the sequel because I forgot just how little she’s in this movie. Hans is the most frustrating part of this film. He’s one of the most infamously bad Disney twist villains but I could actually totally buy his heel turn if they had bothered to, I don’t know, set it up at all? Show him becoming more power hungry over time or something, his reveal scene just ends up coming out of nowhere and having no impact. The whole thing is just silly to me. Ultimately even with a weaker character roster I still think Frozen works, it’s super engaging visually and the songs are very solid outside of Fixer Upper and In Summer (Olaf should’ve fucking melted). Even if it’s not really a favorite, I totally understand why this movie absolutely ruled the lives of every elementary school-aged girl between 2013 and 2015. 

31. Big Hero 6 (2014)

To start, Hiro and Baymax are GOATed. They’re a great duo and the way Baymax helps Hiro process his grief and come to terms with his brother’s death is really well done. The emotional core of this movie is so strong and elevates a story that is admittedly one of 2010s Disney’s more formulaic. It’s largely what you expect from a superhero origin story, which is fine, there’s a place for those stories, they just don’t always stick out in my mind. I was also just… not into the rest of the team, they’re way too tropey and the story doesn’t give them a lot of death beyond their token personality trait. Having a couple scenes where we see them individually, maybe a deeper look into how losing Tadashi and their beloved professor is affecting them personally, would have gone far and not distracted from the Hiro core of this story much. And, while I don’t hate the twist in this movie as much as others, on paper I don’t think it’s a terrible idea, it does fall into Disney’s problems of executing these twists really sloppily.

Outside of its’ emotional core, Big Hero 6’s greatest strength is its’ animation. While the early 2010s Disney films, even films as pretty as Frozen, are starting to show their age just a little bit, this one hasn’t aged a day despite being over a decade old. The animators get to show off so much during the fight scenes, a lot of great worldbuilding goes into San Fransokyo feeling like a real city, and I love the weird ways that the freaky microbots move. While this is one of the more forgettable films to come out of 2010s WDAS, it’s still worth a watch, if nothing else for some cool superhero visuals and a really nice theme of grief and acceptance at its heart. And Baymax is actually funny. His exploding fist bumps and “haaairy baby!” are great, if you don’t say that when you’re petting a cat idk what to tell you man.

30. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Maybe a weird comparison, but this movie reminds me of A Bug’s Life. It has a good but somewhat forgettable story carried by both a very strong message and an all time great supporting cast. Whenever I go back to this movie, it’s for the kooky supporting characters, they’re absolutely awesome. They put in so much effort to make each one distinct, memorable and surprisingly layered. Just from their introductory scenes you can immediately understand who they are, and they’re fleshed out by backstories that arise in a very natural way. Vinny is my favorite.

The rest is cool too! I wasn’t sold on Milo as a protagonist at first but his relationship with Kira is very sweet, they have a lot of genuine chemistry. I like the villain as well, one of the best of the Evil Businessman archetypes and he ended up sticking with me more than I expected after finishing the film. I also enjoyed the animation, like Milo it threw me off at first, but I was ultimately won over by its distinct visual identity compared to Disney’s 90s films. Very neat settings with the caves, as well as Atlantis itself of course. The story not staying with me much does keep it from being among Disney’s best in my opinion, but it’s a very ambitious film and I gotta respect that. Although, if you want a REALLY good animated film from 2001 with an uber-capitalist tweet villain, there’s a certain Pixar film I think you should watch…

29. The Fox & The Hound (1981)

Heartbreaking. Makes you love the main duo so much in such a short amount of time and then proceeds to completely rip your heart out for it. Of all the Disney movies I watched regularly as a kid, this one may have been the most emotionally affecting. Seeing Tod and Copper fight so much in the second half was hard to watch, I would always root for them to be friends again even though I already knew what would happen. I think this was the movie that taught me that childhood friendships don’t always last forever. As characters on their own I don’t think anyone in this film stands out particularly, but their dynamics keep me invested the whole time. Not just between the titular Fox and Hound, but also Tod and his maternal figure Widow Tweed, Tod and his OTHER maternal figure, the owl Big Mama, Copper and his brother/mentor Chief, their relationships are all so believable and it makes it all the more devastating when reality hits and everything falls apart. This movie doesn’t do anything revolutionary, just a very sweet and very sad story told really well.

28. The Jungle Book (1967)

A classic for a reason, this is really good! It’s got a fun setting, memorable songs, and most of the characters are GREAT. Shere Khan and Kaa are great villains on their own and work well off each other, and are contrasted greatly by the very lovable Mowgli. But for me, Baloo and Bagheera absolutely steal the show. This is THEIR movie. I could spend hours watching just these two. They’re endlessly likable and their dynamic is hilarious. They definitely had a situationship before this movie took place, they’re Disney’s first real gay couple. 

The story in this film is really meandering, which can be a problem for me in Disney films, but the characters here are so fun to watch that I never really mind! I guess my only issue is with the ending, which happens way too quickly. I mean, Mowgli going back to the village is pretty inevitable, they had to make that work somehow, but I would’ve liked a bit more time devoted to that conflict. As is, it just feels like an all too quick and unnatural ending because it’s been 80 minutes and it’s time for the movie to end. Otherwise, this movie is a really good time! Although it would’ve been a few slots higher if Disney had actually gotten the Beatles to voice the vultures like they wanted.

27. Fantasia (1940)

I already mentioned in the Fantasia 2000 entry why I think these movies are so cool, but let me reiterate, the Fantasia movies are cool. The pairing of classical music with animations ranging from deeply abstract to very approachable and iconic storytelling, it’s just a treat to watch. Disney animated shorts were always very musical, so many of them basically amounted to putting visuals to a piece of jaunty classical music, but what they pull off with this film is something truly special. This movie still feels massive in 2025, I can’t imagine how it felt watching something like this in 1940, watching the animated short formula blown up to such a large scale. My personal favorite is the Nutcracker segment but all of these shorts are very much worth your time, from the charming Sorcerer’s Apprentice to the haunting Night on Bald Mountain. While there are a lot of Disney movies that mean more to me personally, this is still an absolute feat of animation and a much watch for any fan of the medium. Make more Fantasias!!

26. Mulan (1998)

First thing’s first: Reflection is perfect. Maybe the best sung Disney song of all time. So fucking beautiful and emotional. Hits incredibly hard for people of all walks of life, for example, a pre-everything trans woman. What a tune.

Ended up a lot more mixed on Mulan than I thought I’d be. Mulan as a protagonist is excellent. She’s very fleshed out, believable and easy to root for. The feminist story they tell with her is really well done and honestly just as affecting over 25 years later. I also love bi king Li Shang and Mulan’s gay best friends. Really not surprising that this movie is so popular among queer Disney fans. Hell, I liked Mushu! Maybe not the best goofy talking animal sidekick voiced by Eddie Murphy but I spent the whole film waiting for him to get annoying and he ended up just being really fun to watch the whole time. He’s an asshole, but a likable asshole. 

Unfortunately, outside of some very strong elements, this movie doesn’t stick with me the way my favorite Disney films do. I appreciate the darker tone it goes for, and it really works at points, but sometimes the mix of serious and comedic tones just feels clunky. Also, probably a hot take, but I don’t think this needed to be a musical! Like I said, Reflection is a perfect song, and I’ll Make A Man Out Of You is iconic for a reason, but like… name a third song. They’re largely forgettable and unnecessary and contribute to the confused tone this movie has throughout. I also didn’t like the villain in this sadly. He felt so disconnected from whatever the heroes were doing that he never felt all that intimidating to me. Struggling so hard to get invested in the antagonist at a time where Disney was giving us one legendary villain after another was disappointing. That doesn’t take away from its strengths however, and even if Mulan isn’t a highlight of the Renaissance for me personally, it’s still a pretty great film.

25. The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad (1949)

I was really looking forward to this one as I was going through each film. Both because it meant I was finally done with the postwar package films and because this particular package film is legit great! The first short, The Wind in the Willows, is definitely the weaker of the two, but it’s still a fun time. Not much to say, Mr. Toad is just an agent of chaos and he inflicts that chaos on the anthropomorphic animals around him. It’s a good time! It gave us maybe Disney’s first REAL gay characters in Rat and Mole, as well as one of the best rides in Fantasyland.

Where this film gets really great however is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the second of the two shorts and one of my favorite segments of any Disney film. It’s a perfect Halloween shorts, with a wonderful and cozy fall setting and a great tonal mix of comedy and genuine suspense. Ichabod and Brom Bones (aka Gaston 1.0) are both assholes in their own way but they’re so fun to watch, I love them. Also a big fan of the side characters, especially Tilda, who dances with proto-Gaston at a party and steals the show. And of course the chase scene at the end is perfectly executed (ha), it’s so dark and menacing while still having Disney’s trademark lightness and endearing character animation. This could’ve been a feature film and I would’ve been happy, but as is, this short is a highlight in the studio’s history. 

24. Moana (2016)

Simple one of the best looking Disney movies you’ll ever see. The animation is the highlight here. For a film nearing its 10-year anniversary the animation hasn’t aged a day. Much of this film is spent flexing Disney’s water animation skills and they completely earn the right to do so. When the film isn’t being carried by how gorgeous it looks, it’s being carried by the great dynamic between Moana and Maui. Even if they’re not top-tier Disney characters for me on their own, they work incredibly well together. The side characters are fun as well, Alan Tudyk Chicken manages to not be too annoying and famous YouTuber Schafrillas Productions gets the best scene and likely the best song of the film with Shiny. 

Speaking of the music, can Lin Manuel Miranda just write every Disney musical going forward? As somebody who isn’t a huge fan of his work on Broadway, his style just suits modern Disney perfectly and gives me a much greater appreciation for his talents than I would have otherwise. It’s resulted in some of Disney’s best (and BIGGEST) songs in their whole catalogue. While we’ll get to his other collaboration with the studio much later down the list, songs like You’re Welcome, How Far I’ll Go and the aforementioned Shiny are just undeniable, it’s no wonder they’ve all become Gen Alpha staples (trust me, once they’re old enough, you’re gonna see an INSANE amount of nostalgia for this movie). Just a very solid film. 

23. Hercules (1997)

I feel like these write-ups are getting repetitive but man. This movie’s just fun. A high energy plot with some of the most vibrant and gorgeous animation of the Disney Renaissance, particularly in the backgrounds, and a particularly great voice cast. I mean, Tate Donovan, Rip Torn, Susan Egan, Danny DeVito, all bringing their A-game. The executive producer of Oppenheimer gives my favorite voice performance of the entire Renaissance. Some great songs in this one as well, particularly Zero to Hero and I Won’t Say I’m In Love. The Muses give Hercules one of the strongest musical identities of any Disney film. Admittedly, I think some stronger writing could’ve elevated it to the likes of the best 90s Disney films, but it still has its strong moments such as the incredibly cathartic final line, and anything Hades says ever in the whole movie. Not one that gives me much to say, Hercules is just a damn good time.

22. Treasure Planet (2002)

One that I hadn’t seen until doing this project, it’s pretty great! And had the potential to be even better. You can really tell this was a passion project for Disney legends Musker and Clemens. It has some incredibly in-depth worldbuilding, I fully believe everything they throw at me in this weird world where humans and aliens and robots can coexist. I almost wish we spent less time on the adventure and more time exploring this setting. I also really liked the animation, which, outside of a couple clunky moments, has the best integration of CGI in a 2D Disney movie up to this point. Big fan of the main cast as well, whether it be Amelia and Doppler’s sweet relationship, or Scroop (with an amazing Michael Wincott voice) being a menacing little shit, to all the various crewmates around the ship. Of course, the highlight is the relationship between main characters Jim and John Silver. The film strikes such a good balance between Silver’s villainous and paternal sides in a way that makes him incredibly compelling. He’s a genuinely menacing and dangerous presence on screen for much of the film, but you can’t help but want to see him grow and redeem himself through his love for Jim. It gives him such an incredibly satisfying arc.

What keeps Treasure Planet from being among Disney’s best is something that’s killed way too many Disney movies for me: shitty side characters. Morph got on my nerves at points, though I can look past it because he was pretty useful to the plot. B.E.N…. I’m sorry Martin Short but we gotta kill this guy. He was so god damn obnoxious. I really don’t know why we needed a new comic relief sidekick halfway through the film, especially when the established cast is incredibly likable and funny! I love Martin Short in general but he really annoyed me here. It felt like he was trying to do a Robin Williams and it just didn’t translate. This character taints what is otherwise a pretty great third act and it’s such a shame. The bad sidekicks are my main issue with this film, but aside from that… damn, the songs in this are painfully 2002. I didn’t realize until I watched all their 2000s films back to back just how rough of a decade it was for Disney songs. Other than those issues however, this movie genuinely is great. It deserved better upon release and I’m glad it’s become such a cult classic among Disney nerds. 

21. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Oof, this movie gets so close to fully sticking the landing. There’s truly a lot to love. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an impressively mature film, with some of Disney’s best examinations of authoritarianism, bigotry and abusive relationships, as well as the furthest they will EVER go into religion. This all gives the film a very unique feeling within the Disney canon, with distinct aesthetics and some of the darkest moments to ever come out of the studio. Quasimodo is a very lovable protagonist, very easy to root for. Esmeralda may be even better, her relationships with both Quasimodo and Phoebus are really well done and I love seeing her fuck with Frollo. Speaking of, Frollo has to be Disney’s scariest, and maybe best, villain ever. He’s truly anxiety inducing whenever he’s on screen and his presence is felt whenever he isn’t. There’s always a little pit in your stomach waiting for him to come back. And he gets to sing the absolute banger that is Hellfire. So Hunchback is a slam dunk, right?

Old habits, unfortunately, die hard, and there are a lot of old habits in this film. Three of them to be exact. Like Treasure Planet, the biggest thing holding this film back are the Gargoyles. In this case my issue isn’t even with the characters themselves, I honestly think in another movie they’d be perfectly serviceable sidekicks (maybe even in this film’s direct follow-up, Hercules). In a film with such a dramatic, mature tone, however, they’re incredibly out of place. They serve no real purpose beyond halting any momentum the story may have. Honestly though, the Gargoyles and a couple small out of place tonal shifts are the only things I can hold against Hunchback. It’s pretty amazing that a Disney movie like this exists in the first place, and there’s no way in hell we’ll ever get a Disney film like this again, so we should cherish it.

20. Tarzan (1999)

The Renaissance ends with a banger! I really enjoyed Tarzan, even if I see why so many people are mixed on it. It may not be Disney’s strongest roster of characters, but I got very invested in the relationship between Tarzan and Jane, and I genuinely wasn’t sure where the story was going, whether they would go back to England or stay in the jungle. Clayton is also a WILD villain. Poachers deserve the worst and I’m glad this film agrees with me! My favorite character was easily the maternal gorilla Kala though. If you haven’t already noticed, I have a huge soft spot for parental characters, and all the scenes with her and Tarzan are heart-meltingly sweet. Glenn Close imbues her with so much warmth and gentleness, making her the easy highlight of the film for me. I also came into this movie already being a huge Phil Collins fan (his songs with Genesis are peak 80s pop idc), so even if the songs could’ve been more impactful had they been sung by the characters, I didn’t mind him showing up every 20 minutes. There’s nothing in here that’s nearly as egregious as the No Way Out scene in Brother Bear, the songs never hurt the storytelling, they’re just nice little Phil Collins interludes. You’ll Be In My Heart is rightfully iconic and Strangers Like Me gives us one of the best sequences in the film. They should’ve gone all the way and played Genesis’ No Son of Mine during a scene with Tarzan and his unaccepting gorilla father Kerchak. Overall, while the latter half of the 90s don’t match up to their insane 1989-1994 run, this period of Disney history will always be special to me. 

19. Pinocchio (1940)

This was one of my favorites as a kid, and considering how much of a mixed bag Disney’s early years were, it’s a huge relief for me that Pinocchio still holds up as well as it does. Somehow a movie about a child suddenly gaining consciousness and being thrown into the real world where he’s basically immediately kidnapped, exploited, exposed to substance abuse, enslaved, EATEN BY A WHALE??... is also a total comfort movie. There’s just so much here to like. 

The quaint Italian town this film takes place in is great, the backgrounds are filled with stunning detail, and the character designs are all incredibly distinct. Pinocchio himself is a great protagonist, always happy-go-lucky and optimistic and helps make the sheer darkness of the real world around him easier to stomach. This kid is alive for 2 seconds and has to watch another kid transform into a donkey for the crime of putting his trust in the wrong adult! And he comes out of this movie well adjusted! He’s a stronger boy than I. The ways that the adults around him treat him is really fascinating too, with the villains taking advantage of his naivety at every turn. There’s Jiminy Cricket, who’s WAY hornier than you remember and generally not a good influence at all but is nevertheless a treat to watch, as well as Gepetto, who was clearly not ready to be a father but also clearly loves this puppet-turned-child more than anything. The ending for him and Pinocchio in particular feels very well earned. This film is a great blend of sweetness and darkness, one of the most well-rounded films Disney ever produced, and it’s more than earned its place as a classic in their filmography. Not bad for their second try!

18. Alice In Wonderland (1951)

Really ahead of its time! Simultaneously the trippiest and most British film this studio ever made. No wonder it was so popular in the 60s. 

I’ve always loved Wonderland as a setting and this is my favorite representation on film. The 2D animation gives the artists so much freedom to just go batshit with the colors and character designs. We get to watch these animators be uninhibited and just have fun with how this film looks and moves. So many iconic characters I don’t even know where to begin. Alice is a nice grounding presence throughout the film, but of course it’s the side characters who stick with me more, whether it’s the kooky Mad Hatter, the hilariously stressed White Rabbit, or the Cheshire Cat who’s just the coolest guy you’ll ever meet. I’m definitely not biased because I played him in a 2nd grade production of this story. The real scene stealer of the film is the Queen of Hearts however. She completely takes over the film by the end. Verna Felton gives an incredible voice performance as this goofy tyrannical force of nature. Easily would be Disney’s best villain up to this point in their filmography if she was in more than the last 20 minutes of the film. Like Pinocchio, this is another comfort film for me, just replace most of the fantastical darkness of that film with pure psychedelia. And the Very Merry Unbirthday song makes me feel like I’m at Disneyland because you can hear that teacups music from everywhere in the park. And it’s also my Unbirthday today! What are the odds?

17. The Princess & The Frog (2009)

When I was younger, this was my pick for my favorite Disney movie. It came out when I was six years old and I watched it SO much as a kid. Thankfully it’s mostly held up! The animation is still gorgeous, the characters are still super fun, and this remains easily Disney’s most underrated musical. Seriously, the jazz and zydeco-infused musical numbers give this film such a unique energy and identity. Tell me that a film with Almost There, When We’re Human, Gonna Take You There and Dig A Little Deeper isn’t one of the best musicals Disney ever made.

I will admit that it does get weaker as it goes on. The first act in New Orleans is phenomenal, such a great showcase of a great city and grounded in a great protagonist in Tiana. A lot of people fall off this film once she and Naveen are turned into frogs and stranded in the swamp, which I totally understand, but I still love the bayou setting and their growing relationship. We also get the GOATed side character that is Louis, the crocodile who wants to be a jazz trumpetist, and most of my favorite songs in the film are from this middle section. Seriously, the firefly Ray’s entire existence is justified by Gonna Take You There, that song is so damn good. Once the gang gets back to New Orleans however… the film kinda loses the plot? Most of the third act here just doesn’t stick the landing, it feels very rushed and aimless. I wish things were tied up nicer than they are. No wonder this is the part of the film I tend to forget about after a rewatch. It’s not a big deal though, this movie is just such a good time throughout. Its southern Louisiana setting gives it a wholly unique vibe in the Disney animated canon and it’s one I could just sit in for hours. I’ve always really loved the feeling this movie gives me. It makes me mourn the now cancelled Tiana spin-off series and really makes me want to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at the theme parks I DESPERATELY want to ride this one day please just lower your ticket prices just once Disney please please please please pl

16. One Hundred And One Dalmations (1961)

Okay, I know I was obsessed with a lot of these top tier movies as a kid but I was ESPECIALLY obsessed with this one. I did in fact have a dalmatian plush and got super attached to these puppies. And I was right for that, this movie is so good!! Absolutely delightful!!! This is the first entry in Disney’s mid-century Sketch Era of animation and there are later entries in this era where the animation can look rough, but in this film it looks absolutely fantastic. It fits the setting and tone so well. London looks absolutely gorgeous. Very charmingly bleak and damp and the art perfectly conveys that. The first act is genuinely perfect, I almost wanted to just stay in the domestic lives of Pongo and Perdita and their puppies for the whole film. I’ve ranked some of Disney’s hangout films a lot lower on this list (Lady & The Tramp comes to mind) but I genuinely think they could’ve just stayed in their house watching TV and had various kooky characters come in and out of the story and I would’ve been content. Every character in this first act is so effortlessly charming and likeable and then Cruella comes in like a fucking atom bomb. She’s so dramatic, campy and downright EVIL, she provides such a perfect contrast to the rest of the characters and it all works perfectly. Plus Roger is a great songwriter, the fact that he came up with her villain song on the spot like that? Really impressive. 

The rest of the film doesn’t quite live up to the first 25 minutes or so, but it’s still really enjoyable to see the animals team up to help get the puppies back. Sgt. Tibbs the cat is probably the MVP of this whole movie. He goes through hell for those puppies, that’s uncle Tibbs for real!! And even if it’s not quite as striking as the chaotic London scenes, the art for the English countryside is just as beautiful. The shadow of this film would hang over the studio for years, ushering in a new style that defined their 60s and 70s output, and in that whole 20 year span it would never be topped. Except for…

15. Robin Hood (1973)

IMMACULATE vibes on this one. Perfect blend of the Ye Olde English aesthetic of the original Robin Hood story with a nice touch of Americana. It meanders, like so many early Disney movies, but here it feels less like them not knowing how to pace a film and more of an actual stylistic choice. Just hanging out with these characters, in this setting, it’s a really nice time. Robin Hood and Little John are a very charming duo, and the romance between Robin Hood and Marian is super sweet. Lady Kluck is an absolute queen and steals the movie anytime she’s on screen. And Prince John has gotta be Disney’s most underrated villain. He isn’t brought up much but he’s one of the most hilarious characters the studio ever produced, and the mommy issues subplot is wild. Also shoutout to the little animal kids in this movie, the little rabbit who yells “Death to tyrants!” in the castle courtyard definitely went on to topple some governments. Admittedly, for as good as this film is, it does represent some of the biggest issues Disney films had at the time. Namely, some very derivative characters taken from The Jungle Book, and the infamous re-used animation from that film and The Aristocats is VERY blatant if you know where to look. Honestly though, I was vibing way too much to care. I was really taken aback by how charming this whole film is and it really made me let my guard down while watching. Just a very cute retelling of a classic story. 

14. Zootopia (2016)

From one anthropomorphic animal society to another. Right off the bat, you have to just accept that the racial allegory this film presents is NOT a 1:1 comparison to real life human racism and if you go into it thinking it will be the film completely falls apart and leads to some very weird implications so please don’t go into this expecting a perfect allegory to our world ANYWAYS Zootopia is a blast.

When I went back to watch this film for the first time in probably 7 or 8 years, I was really worried that this movie had aged poorly but as it turns out I still really enjoy this film. Really interesting worldbuilding, animation that like most 2010s Disney films hasn’t aged a day, a really fun roster of side characters like JK Simmons mayor, gay cops, racist rabbit parents, and an all-time great Disney duo at the center of it all. Judy and Nick play off each other incredibly well and have a perfectly paced arc together. I'm very excited to see them again in the sequel, and their chemistry is so strong I’m not at all surprised that people are convinced they’re gonna get together in said sequel. Hopefully we get to see more of the city of Zootopia in the sequel as well, this film does a great job of really giving us a feel for this bustling city and how it’s able to support so many different species at once, but we really only spent time in a few areas, and I’m excited to explore more. 

Zootopia is definitely not a perfect film. It feels like the turning point for when Disney would start referencing their own brand in their animated films more often and I’ve gotten thoroughly sick of that trope. The twist villain is also incredibly sloppy, even if I see what they were going for with her parallels to Judy’s place as a small rabbit on a police force made up of giant animals. And again, the racism allegory at the heart of this film has tons of holes you can poke in it and a couple moments that genuinely get weird (I don’t think we needed to give rabbits their own N word? That feels like maybe a bad call?). A lot of people tear this movie down for their handling of racism and prejudice, mainly because the dynamics are so different from human racism and the predator/prey allegory looks REALLY bad if you try to apply it to human interaction. I understand this response, but I also can’t imagine this was meant to be a 1:1 allegory in the first place. At its core, this is a film about how Racism Is Bad and about how fear of others makes people bigoted and hurtful, and those messages are very true and communicated to this film’s very young audience in an effective, moving way. It may not be perfect, but Zootopia’s heart is in the right place and I have to respect it for that. I also had a massive crush on Nick when I was 13 but we really should move on

13. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

When I first watched The Great Mouse Detective, a year before I started this project, my Letterboxd review consisted simply of “I love Olivia and her 3 dads so much. Also peak Evil Gay representation.” I don’t know what else I could add.

Any Sherlock Holmes homage (or more specifically a Basil of Baker Street homage but I digress) needs to have a good Holmes & Watson for the story to work, and Basil of Baker Street and Dr. David Q. Dawson are two of the best Holmes & Watsons ever put to screen. Their chemistry is incredibly strong as the two mice learn to work together to save Mr. Flaversham. Olivia, Flaversham’s daughter, is adorable and her relationship with Dawson is incredibly sweet. Considering my favorite movie of all time is Monsters, Inc. it shouldn’t be surprising that I’m a sucker for the trope of a grown man who would die for a cute little girl he just met. The absolute scene stealer of this film is the villainous Ratigan however. He is fucking incredible, a total ham while still being a genuine threat. Vincent Price plays him impeccably, bringing a dramatic flair and campiness to the character while having moments of pure menace, this rat is Violent. His plan to beat the heroes is hilarious, his comeuppance even more so. This is a massively underrated movie and even if it’s very different in tone from what Disney would soon be releasing, it was the first sign in years that there were some truly amazing films from this studio on the horizon. 

12. Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Wow wow wow this is a gorgeous movie. As its follow up One Hundred & One Dalmations would usher in the loose, sketchy animation style of the 1960s and 70s, Sleeping Beauty is the culmination and send-off of the traditional art style this studio had spent the last 20+ years developing. The backgrounds in this movie in particular are just stunning, whether we’re in the middle of the woods or King Stefan’s castle. I especially love the way the artists here play with color, especially the green and purple color scheme that comes to dominate the third act of this film, when Maleficent is at the height of her powers, leading to the absolute feat of animation that is the final showdown that brings the film to its peak. Set against a backdrop of greens and purples as the prince tries to break the sleep spell and fights against Maleficent’s fiery attacks, it’s one of the best takes on the Valiant Knight vs. Ferocious Dragon tropes I’ve ever seen. 

Speaking of Maleficent, she’s Disney’s best villain up to this point in their filmography. Her intimidating stature and plans to take power from Aurora feel like an updating of Snow White’s Evil Queen, helping to contribute to the feeling of Sleeping Beauty as a culmination of the studio’s work. This movie is full of likeable characters. The trio of old fairies are wonderful and charming, I love the bromance between the two kings, and Aurora is an optimistic and loving protagonist who in hindsight might’ve been a trans awakening for me? I really wanted to be her as a kid so thanks for making me a girl Aurora. Sleeping Beauty is mid-century Disney operating on peak form. It’s an end of an era, it’s the film the studio had been working towards for decades, and, just below the top 10 of this list, it has the distinction of being my favorite feature film that Walt Disney himself had a hand in. 

11. Zootopia 2 (2025)

This film is actively in theaters as I write this, and I only just saw it for the first time, so I won’t say much about it here, both to give myself more time to digest it as well as to allow people to see it for themselves. What I will say is MAN does it feel good to root for a Disney movie again. A Disney sequel at that! After three misses over the last decade, they finally NAILED one. Crazier action, goofier animation, a great exploration of Judy and Nick’s evolving relationship, thoughtful worldbuilding, and a MUCH better allegory at the center of this film’s story. I’m so glad this film stuck the landing, it’s really everything you could ask for in a Zootopia sequel. Give Jared Bush and Byron Howard the keys to the castle.

10. Meet The Robinsons (2007)

Fun fact: this was the first movie I ever saw in theaters! I was three years old and have no memory of this but still!

Compared to Disney’s first fully-CGI outing, Chicken Little, this film’s quality is like night and day. What a difference two years and a script that isn’t needlessly mean and trying to be something it’s not makes! Even with the short amount of time between Meet The Robinsons and its predecessor, you can tell how much improvement Disney made with its CG animation. Being nearly 20 years old it does show its age, but it’s still a film I can watch and not be distracted by how butt ugly it looks the whole time! In fact, the dated animation actually adds some charm to the retro-futuristic world we spend so much of this movie in.

More importantly, however, this movie has a great script with so much heart. Lewis is such a likeable and well-written protagonist, adorably nerdy and heartbreakingly in need of acceptance and approval, he’s very easy to root for. I love the extended Robinson family as well, they feel like one big familial unit and I have a lot of fun spending time with them throughout the 2nd act (the dinner fight is especially great). Undeniably though, the highlight of the film is Goob. He has some genuinely moving scenes, showing what happens when you let your failures define you and how letting that resentment build can really fuck your life up. He’s a perfect foil for Lewis. He’s also the funniest character of the film by far. It’s ultimately the comedy that pushes this film into top-tier Disney territory. Even if Goob does much of the heavy lifting, every character has at least one scene that made me laugh. It makes me so happy that people have begun seeing this as a highlight for the studio considering how long it spent being an overlooked film with lukewarm reception. Especially after the rough decade this studio had in the 2000s, Meet The Robinsons was a real breath of fresh air.

9. Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Absolute childhood classic. I’m no gamer so I’m definitely not the best authority but this has to be one of the best portrayals of video games in any film. The world they set up inside this arcade is so interesting and unique and is a really fun take on adapting the medium into film. What I AM an authority on is pop culture references and for a movie that was largely produced in the 2000s I was shocked at how unforced all of the references to various games and larger gamer culture were. I was never distracted by these references, everything is incorporated into the storytelling and worldbuilding in a very natural way and I was never taken out of the main stories. It’s impressive! Through this worldbuilding they also get the chance to showcase various inventive settings and the countless visual styles work together so well. It’s hard to believe that Disney had been producing CG animated films for less than a decade at this point.

Wreck-It Ralph boasts a great cast of characters as well, from the townspeople in Fix-It Felix to the various asshole racers in Sugar Rush. Ralph and Vanellope’s relationship is especially touching and sweet (pun). This was one of my favorite Disney films as a kid, it was mindblowing for a 9 year old boy to see Sonic in a Disney movie. So glad this holds up all these years later, Owl City you will always be famous for that credits song. 

8. The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

Small tangent before I talk about this movie, the 2000s were a low point for Disney Credits Songs. It’s actually impressive how little impact these songs have left. This film ends with a schmaltzy synthed-out Sting ballad? It’s not a good song on its own but the tonal shift from the rest of this film is especially wild. You wanted to end on this note??? Didn’t want to keep up the momentum from the highest energy film you’ve made in decades??? Such an odd choice. Anyways this movie is peak

The Emperor’s New Groove is an 80 minute Looney Tunes cartoon with Disney Renaissance level animation. I should be putting it at #1 for that alone. There’s too many iconic gags and quotable lines to count. Every voice actor brings their absolute A-game. David Spade gives probably his best performance as Kuzco and works so well off of John Goodman. Also, even if I wasn’t born yet when this movie came out, casting Goodman and Wendie Malick as a married couple feels like a decision that was made for me specifically. They’re two of my all time favorite actors and their little family is adorable. Patrick Warburton is obviously incredible as Kronk and I understand why he’s the highlight for most people, but on my latest watch the star of this film was Eartha Kitt. Yzma has to be the funniest character in this film, which says a lot, and so much of that comes down to Eartha Kitt screaming her head off in that recording booth. So many incredible line deliveries. The story in the film definitely comes second to the gags, but the story is good too! It’s a great game of cat (ha) and mouse, and Kuzco’s arc is genuinely believable. They do a really good job of making his growth feel earned and earnest, especially for how much of the story is spent with him being an entitled jerk. Ultimately, this is Disney’s funniest film and one of the easy highlights of their filmography. 

7. Aladdin (1992)

Disney’s greatest imperial run lasted from 1989 to 1994. With the exception of the Rescuers sequel, every movie they released in this five year span made my personal top 10. While Aladdin may be the lowest of these films, we’re splitting hairs at this point. This film is excellent.

I love love love the look of this film. The color palette of the desert leads to some very gorgeous and bright animation. The early CGI used in this film, a theme of the Renaissance I never see people bring up, may look dated but adds to the zany charm this film holds. It also contains many of Disney’s most exaggerated and expressive faces, which I always appreciate. This film has such a fast-paced and zany tone that’s a real treat to watch. It’s one of Disney’s best musicals as well, with Howard Ashman’s final outing as songwriter giving us soaring ballads like A Whole New World and fun romps from the Genie like Friend Like Me and Prince Ali. The titular Aladdin is one of Disney’s strongest protagonists. He may have his mean moments, but you can see how much the rough life he’s lived has shaped him, and his moments of kindness say much more about him than moments of jerkassery. His arc with Jasmine is really sweet to watch and they have tons of chemistry, especially when they first meet at the market and Jasmine fully commits to the bit so she and Aladdin don’t get in trouble. That scene alone makes her one of my favorite Disney princesses. And of course the Genie is the Genie. Robin Williams puts everything he can into the performance, firing on all cylinders. If one early 90s pop culture reference doesn’t land, don’t worry, he’ll have hit you with so many jokes that you’ll forget the one that didn’t work in 30 seconds. His relationship with Aladdin is genuinely sweet and watching them grow to care for each other as much as they do is always the highlight of the film for me. A classic for a reason, one of the most purely entertaining films to ever come out of this studio.

Also, a random observation I had on my latest rewatch, but this might be the most that any Disney film feels like DreamWorks. Characters like Iago and especially the Genie feel like major influences on that studio’s writing. Sometimes Aladdin feels like a mix of 90s Disney and 00s DreamWorks, and it makes for a really interesting watch if you grew up watching both of their films. I blame Jeffrey Katzenberg. 

6. The Little Mermaid (1989)

My first 5 star Disney film! Both chronologically and on this ranking! We did it gamers!!! What a movie. This was obviously a massive turning point for the studio and it’s not hard to see why. The Little Mermaid showcases some incredible animation, a beautiful and lush art style in star contrast to the past 25 years of the rough, sketchy style. One of the earliest examples of Disney making the ocean look absolutely majestic. And the MUSIC. One of Disney’s greatest musicals (this will be a running theme in this top 5, spoilers). It’s heartbreaking that we weren’t able to hear more of Howard Ashman’s work, but man the legacy he left at this studio is truly something special. Part of Your World, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Kiss The Girl, the absolute peak of the film romp that is Under The Sea, this soundtrack alone cements him as a legend.

The story is also great, as well as transgender as fuck. I mean the journey Ariel goes on to get her legs? And how much she fights with Triton about this before he ultimately accepts her for who she is inside? So goals. Ariel is a great protagonist in general. Love how she sees all the good in humans while living in a world that fears them so deeply, and watching her trying to navigate the human world is so endearing. On the opposite end, Ursula is DELICIOUSLY evil. She ushers us into the golden era of Disney villains, when they’re all campy and dramatic and gay as all hell and stealing every scene they’re in. Jodi Benson and Pat Carroll both give great performances in these respective roles. Comic reliefs like Flounder, Scuttle and Grimsby, as well as the flawed but loving King Triton (whose hatred of humans isn’t ENTIRELY unfounded lets be real) and a better than average male love interest in Eric round out a really solid cast. And then there’s my GOAT Sebastian. This crab has to be my favorite Disney sidekick of all time. All of my Letterboxd reviews center around him, including a whole paragraph about how awesome he is in my most recent log. Samuel Wright’s performance is so strong and filled with personality, I love the contrast between his serious personality and how loose he gets when he’s performing musical numbers, I love how he’s a genuinely good parental figure for Ariel, and I mostly love that he’s hilarious. My GOAT!!

Just an all around excellent film. Everything I could want in a Disney movie, so it’s telling that we still have five to go. Not only that, it’s a great introduction to one of the greatest runs that any animation studio has ever been on. Arguably, this is the film that made Disney into the media empire it is today. Make of that what you will. At least on the artistic level, I couldn’t be more grateful. 

5. Tangled (2010)

Like its predecessor The Princes & The Frog, I long considered Tangled to be my favorite Disney film. I was real for that. This was the film that both introduced and perfected the modern Disney formula, and it still holds up nearly 15 years later. It’s hard to believe that this was just five years after Chicken Little, the animation improved so much in such a short period of time. Not only do the visuals look great, but the comedy, particularly the physical comedy, is just fantastic here. As a sucker for animated slapstick, the comedy is one of my favorite aspects of this film by far. There’s also tons of great songs, from the comedic and aspirational I’ve Got A Dream to the stellar “I Want” number When Will My Life Begin to the tearjerking love song I See The Light.

What ultimately keeps me coming back to Tangled is the relationship between its two protagonists. Rapunzel is an extremely likable character, a perfect mix of quirky and strong and individualistic. It’s no wonder why she’s been such a massive influence on the Disney protagonists of the modern era. The highlight of the movie has to be Flynn/Eugene though. He could’ve easily been an obnoxious douchebag, but walks a fine line and ends up being the funniest character in the film. He’s insanely charming and matures in a way that makes him incredibly lovable, thanks to his very natural character arc and a legitimately great performance from Real Life Asshole Zachary Levi. Everything in Tangled comes together to make this one of Disney’s best films ever, and it’s no question why so many people of my generation hold it up as a classic.

4. Encanto (2021)

This movie is a miracle. From the rest of this list, I think it’s pretty clear that I think WDAS has been in a rough place for the past 7 years or so, their recent films just haven’t had the spark that make Disney such a great and meaningful studio to me. The fact that a movie this bold, with this amount of care for its story, characters and setting, came out of this rough patch gives me so much hope for the future of this studio, even if I don’t know when that hope will be realized.

Part of me is tempted to just go through all the characters and explain why they’re all great in detail. I mean Mirabel is endlessly endearing and the love she has for her family is so palpable, even with all the pain that comes with that love. Bruno strikes a great balance between having a really tragic relationship with his family and getting some deeply moving scenes while also being the funniest character in the film. Luisa deserves her own film (and not just because I have a big fat crush on her), I can really relate to what she goes through with her self worth and the crushing expectations placed on her by both the world and herself. She’s also just a sweetheart and I especially love seeing her tender relationship with her younger sister. And Antonio is the cutest Disney kid since Boo, don’t @ me.

Lin Manuel-Miranda proves that he is THE best songwriter for Disney musicals working right now. Just a very talented composer who’s able to work with the settings and tones of Disney films and whose… quirks that have turned a lot of people off of him actually work really well in an animated context. We Don’t Talk About Bruno spent a month at #1 for a reason, and tracks like What Else Can I Do? and Waiting On A Miracle add so much to the film. Encanto also probably has Disney’s best looking CG humans yet, a perfect mix of cartoony character design and realistic rendering. I also love all the detail that was put into showcasing Colombian culture. I may not be Colombian, but seeing people from that country pointing out all the little details that were put in this film was great to see and made this little community feel all the more real. Good representation matters!

I think the tone this film strikes is what every Disney movie should be aiming for. Yes, you can have your self aware moments where the characters gesture to the audience at how ridiculous their situation is (Mirabel is very good at this), but it can’t get in the way of telling a good story. This film has some very funny moments but those moments never impede on this really moving story of a family who’s been falling apart trying to meet impossible expectations and who aren’t allowed to not be perfect and the damage that comes from that sisyphean task. If anything the comedy enhances the drama, as it should. The characters all feel so real and give us Disney’s strongest ensemble in a long time, if not ever. I absolutely love Encanto, I’m so glad it exists, and I’m so glad that in such a dark time for this studio, they still have this bright spot glowing.

3. Beauty & The Beast (1991)

A beautiful love story when you don’t got a bitch in your ear telling you it’s about Stockholm Syndrome

I don’t even know what I can add about Beauty & The Beast. It’s a masterpiece! It’s the only movie from this studio ever nominated for Best Picture, in a time where there were only 5 nominees for good measure! One of the greatest ensembles ever put in a Disney film. All of the living household items in the castle are hilarious and bounce off of each other so well, I could watch them for hours. Belle is one of the best protagonists in any Disney film, she’s full of autistic swag and her relationship with the Beast develops in such an interesting and heartwarming way. Seeing the Beast become more and more gentle throughout the film is a highlight as well. Gaston’s transformation from an egotistical goofball to using his charisma to insight hate and violence was relevant back then at the height of AIDS-fueled homophobia and just as relevant today as fascists attempt to take over the US. Howard Ashman’s style is bursting in every musical number, he is so deeply missed. Beauty & The Beast balances a whimsical and lighthearted tone with some of the scariest, most intense moments in any Disney movie. Obviously the Beast is hotter before he turns back to a human. Obviously Cogsworth and Lumiere are lowkey gay. It’s Beauty & The Beast! I feel weird even trying to justify putting this in the top 5, if you’ve seen this film you know why it’s top 3. 

2. The Lion King (1994)

Out of every Disney movie, this is the one most often singled out as their best. And even if it ends up just shy of #1 on my personal ranking, who am I to argue that claim? The Lion King is a genuine masterpiece, the high watermark of the Disney Renaissance, filled to the brim with memorable characters, gorgeous set pieces, and some of the most impactful dramatic moments in any Disney film. There are quite a few films on this list where it feels redundant to even explain why they’re great films, and The Lion King has to be the prime example. 

You know how gorgeous this film looks, with its rich color palette of deep blues and striking yellows, as well as all the stunning backgrounds. You know how moving this film can be, whether it’s the opening shots of all the animals in the savannah coming together to celebrate Simba’s birth, or the childhood trauma inducing death of Mufasa, or the exciting climactic fights at the end of the film. You know that Simba is a great protagonist, an adorable little shit as a child who grows up to meet and surpass the expectations placed on him as the son of Mufasa. You know how great of a villain Scar is, with a perfect balance of his comedic and villainous sides, showing us just how cunning and manipulative he can be in his relationship with Simba. You know that Timon and Pumbaa are some of the best adoptive dads in cinema history and that gay stoner mentors are exactly what Simba needed to develop as a character. You know that the SONGS in this thing are NEXT LEVEL. Seriously, from the bombastic opening of Circle of Life, to the upbeat jams of Just Can’t Wait To Be King and Hakuna Matata, to the killer villain song that is Be Prepared, The Lion King may be Disney’s best and most well-rounded musical they’ve ever made.

The Lion King is self-evidently a master work. A titan of the medium of animation, a film that shows what the medium is all about and the heights that it can reach. I don’t believe in objective rankings when it comes to discussing art, because art is inherently subjective and what may make something objectively good to one person might not be the case for another, but if I was ranking these films by how “objectively” good they are, this film would be a shoe-in for the top spot. And yet, there’s just one Disney film that I connect with more personally…

#1. Lilo & Stitch (2002)

Lilo & Stitch really snuck up on me. I did not grow up with this film, I think I only saw it once or twice on Disney Channel as a kid, and thought it was a pretty fun time but not a film I had much sentimental value attached to. And while that means my love for this film has come from my adulthood, being able to look at this story from the perspective of someone older and appreciating it through that lens, part of me wishes this film was part of my childhood, as I feel very seen by the wonderful and complex characters this film is about.

I have never been in the situation that Lilo and Nani find themselves in in this film. I don’t mean finding a mischievous blue alien and keeping him as a pet while the rest of the universe is looking for him (although I’ve never been in that situation either thankfully). I mean that this is a film, at its core, about a 19 year old having to be both parent and sibling to her younger sister after their parents have died. What this does to their relationship, the strain it puts on them and the way it brings them closer together, is so beautifully explored in this film and is something beyond my comprehension, as I’ve never experienced it firsthand. And yet, these characters are so well written and fully fleshed out that I can see myself in both of these girls deeply. 

Lilo is a troubled kid, feeling alienated from the world due to both not having her parents and clearly being neurodivergent in some form. She doesn’t have the tools to express this yet, being a very young child, and so she lashes out, she hits, she disrespects authority at every opportunity. I may not have ever found myself in her situation, but I was once an autistic child who didn’t know why I felt and acted differently from other kids in my age group. I wasn’t a “troubled child” but I do see myself in Lilo’s struggles to make sense of the world around her and fit in with her peers, and the anger and isolation that comes from not being able to, and not understanding why. 

Now that I’m older, I see myself in Nani as well. She’s put in an impossible situation, at just 19 years old she needs to be Lilo’s older sister, her parental figure, and the breadwinner for them to keep their home, all while still grieving her parents, and this puts her under an immense amount of pressure. She has to be the best young adult character Disney’s ever written, her specific experiences with trying to guide Lilo and find her own place in the world feeling universal to anyone in her age range. She parallels her younger sister in many ways, having to fit into a world that she doesn’t have all the tools to navigate, leading to her own feelings of frustration and isolation. I’m 22 years old now, can’t find work, and feel very unsure about what my place in the world is today, so Nani’s struggles throughout this film resonate with me deeply.

Nani, Lilo & Stitch have to be one of Disney’s all time best familial units. They’re far from perfect, but what family is? It’s heartwarming to see Lilo with a buddy she can relate to on a level that she’s never been able to with her peers, and watching Stitch slowly soften and grow beyond his original purpose as a killing chaos machine is really touching as well. All three of them grow to be better, more understanding and loving characters through their relationships with each other and it’s just so expertly done that I can’t help but marvel at it every time I watch this film. 

The central family may be the heart of this film, and is what ultimately makes it my favorite Disney film, but there’s so much else that works in its favor. There’s the layer of colonial critique, with Lilo’s hobby of taking photos of tourists, framed as if they’re otherworldly freaks, a perfectly understandable thing for a native Hawaiian living on commodified land to do! There’s also the rest of the alien civilization, which is full of memorable, striking character design. Lots of my favorite Disney films seem to have extremely gay-coded side characters and Pleakley and Jumbaa may be the best and gayest of all, they have an incredible married couple dynamic and their quest to retrieve Stitch is hilarious. Oh yeah, I haven’t even mentioned that, even if this film’s themes can get dark, it’s also a total ROMP. It’s filled to the brim with comedy, always able to find the humor in these characters despite their bleak situation. From Nani attempting to find a job, to Lilo trying to teach Stitch how to be nicer, there’s so much comedy to be found in the premise of THIS duo keeping a chaotic gremlin alien as a pet, and the filmmakers make the most of it. The Hawaiian setting plays a big role in this film as well, not only as a tool for critique, but also as a gorgeous backdrop for this story to unfold. Hawaiian culture is treated respectfully and taken seriously, it explores what it means to be Hawaiian in a place that has been so thoroughly taken over by tourism, and the Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride interlude that lets our characters just exist and enjoy the ocean waves for a few minutes is such a wonderful and moving sequence it chokes me up every time I watch this film. 

Lilo & Stitch is truly something special. It can be easy to overlook this film, with Stitch as a character becoming one of Disney’s most overexposed cash cows in the two decades since its release, but if you look at it as a film, it’s clear that this is a film full of love. It’s an expertly written film, with so much love for its characters, for its setting, for people who are different from what our society expects of them, for people who have been through traumatic experiences and have to pick up the pieces and continue living their lives in spite of it, for the music of Elvis Presley. It’s such a wonderful film, one that I will continue to cherish, and it’s my pick for my favorite movie ever made by Walt Disney Animation Studios.