Every Walt Disney Animated Movie, Ranked

Disney’s nadir came at a time when its multi-decade animation reign ended thanks to DreamWorks and Pixar’s rise. Home on the Range follows a group of dairy cows who try to save their farm, but they get lost in this desperately unfunny entry, with Disney’s worst villain ever to boot. Not even a charming k.d. lang song can make up for what a disaster this is. If I made a film this bad, I’d acquire my competition, too.

You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Dinosaur is a Disney film at all. It’s the studio’s first big foray into computer-generated animation, and while all the characters are CGI, the backgrounds are live-action. Whilst the backdrops are gorgeous, the characters are pretty darn ugly by modern standards. A rare Disney movie without any songs, Dinosaur is devoid of identity, as memorable characters are nowhere to be found.

The weakest of Disney’s wartime package films, Fun and Fancy Free combines Bongo, the story of a circus bear, and the classic Mickey and the Beanstalk. But it’s the narrative structure that makes this one so uncomfortable to watch. It follows Jiminy Cricket going to some kid’s birthday party, which is attended by the birthday girl, some puppets from your worst nightmares, and Edgar Bergen. Even when Mickey is escaping from a giant, all you can think is, “Who is this girl, and how can we save her?” At just 73 minutes long, it manages to feel eternal.

Disney is well known for breathtaking animation — none of which can be found in Chicken Little, their ugliest movie. This is the studio losing everything that makes them what people love in favor of a pale DreamWorks imitation. It has its moments — Chicken Little is a genuinely interesting protagonist, and Zach Braff gives a spirited performance — but it’s not enough to make up for what an unfortunate experience this is.

Inexplicably, Make Mine Music is the only Disney classic not on Disney+, and is also awfully difficult to track down on home video. The package film collects 10 different segments of varying quality, most of which fall into being easily forgettable. The real highlight is Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet, a story sung by The Andrews Sisters about two hats that fell for each other in a department store and their impossible love story.

Clocking in at a mere 42 minutes, Saludos Amigos is Disney’s shortest feature film. Commissioned by the American government as part of the Good Neighbor policy to promote relations with Latin America, this package film finds characters like Goofy and Donald traveling to South America. Even at less than an hour, it’s pretty dull, but it culminates in the gorgeously animated and lively final segment, “Aquarela do Brasil,” which introduces the iconic parrot José Carioca.

A fun concept: Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) kills a bear unnecessarily and is turned into a bear by spirits as punishment. On the way, he finds Koda (an adorable Jeremy Suarez), a young bear in search of his mother. There’s some sweetness and a strong moral compass, but everything here feels mild. The 2000s found Disney trying to re-establish its identity after the Renaissance, and Brother Bear feels very much like a movie trying to figure itself out. Even the soundtrack, courtesy of Phil Collins, feels like a pale imitation of his previous work on Tarzan.

The film that launched a thousand furries, Robin Hood is one sly fox. Beyond an impressive cast of characters, however, the film is barely there. It feels more like a collection of vaguely connected sketches rather than a coherent feature, and the film certainly bears the signs of a studio in deep turmoil. That’s too bad, because this should have been something truly special, and features “Love,” one of Disney’s best songs.

The last of Disney’s Wartime Era package films, Melody Time amuses more than it bores. The seven different stories are an inevitable mixed bag, but for dull segments like Trees (which is exactly what it sounds like), you get Pecos Bill, a total riot, and Slue Foot Sue is a character I still hope Disney revisits one day.

Most rightfully remember The Fox and the Hound for the heart-wrenching scene that separates best friends Tod (Mickey Rooney), a fox, and Copper (Kurt Russell), a hound. The film explores prejudice smartly, particularly in the way society informs those prejudices. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that The Fox and the Hound is frustratingly slight, with barely-there human characters and a story that fails to justify its feature length.

The 1960s were a curious time for Disney, which found the company trying to get back on track after the crushing expense of 1959’s Sleeping Beauty. Cutting costs was the name of the game, which is why The Sword in the Stone looks and feels so rough around the edges. Save a fantastical magic sequence between Merlin and Madam Mim, this is one of the least visually adventurous of all Disney movies. The lackluster and threadbare plot doesn’t help either.

The second and final film commissioned through the Good Neighbor policy, The Three Caballeros is a highlight of the Wartime Era. The film’s seven segments are all over the place, but none are boring — exceptionally rare for the Forties package films. The Cold-Blooded Penguin is adorable, Baía stuns with a dance between Donald Duck and singer Aurora Miranda, and Donald’s Surreal Reverie is magical.

It’s no secret that 2013’s Frozen is one of the most successful films of all time, picking up well over $1 billion at the global box office. Modern Disney is a very different beast from the early days, where box office success all but guarantees a sequel. Enter Frozen II, which brings back the same lovable characters and excellent songs, and places them in a wildly convoluted story that never comes together in a satisfying way. Not that any of the film’s problems stopped it from earning even more than its predecessor, mind you.

Yes, this film gave us “The Bear Necessities.” Sure, it gave us Shere Khan, the deliciously camp villain voiced by Oscar-winner George Sanders. It’s one of Disney’s most charming efforts, but underneath that charm is… not a whole lot. Beyond some great scenes and Baloo, The Jungle Book is an undercooked story with retrograde politics that’s far less than the sum of its parts. This was Walt Disney’s final film before his passing in 1966.

There’s plenty of debate about whether The Rescuers belongs to the Bronze Era or the Dark Age, neither of which is a glowing endorsement. The final film involving a majority of Disney’s legendary Nine Old Men — John Lounsbery, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Woolie Reitherman, Milt Kahl, and Eric Larson — The Rescuers is a surprisingly grim movie about a young orphan desperate for a family of her own. It’s frequently beautiful (the sequence in the cave is a marvel), but too often feels like a less-impressive, darker retread of previous Disney movies, like a greatest hits album without the best songs.

A story of a dog actor Bolt (John Travolta) who believes his on-screen powers are real, Bolt marked the directorial debut of Byron Howard and Chris Williams, both of whom have directed a number of big hits for the studio. The film also features Miley Cyrus as Penny, Bolt’s owner. It’s a film with plenty of heart and an enjoyable cast, and provides a satisfying adventure, even if it’s not particularly memorable. But the charm and the decent CGI animation go a long way.

Credit where it’s due: you can’t fault Disney for trying something new here. Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a science-fiction adventure movie, something Disney had curiously never explored before. Taking inspiration from Jules Verne, there’s a distinct style and energy to Atlantis. There’s fun to be had here, but the film introduces an awful lot of characters in a fairly brief runtime, resulting in more archetypes than believable people. There’s some fantastic animation here, but a boring villain takes the air out of things.

A dark fantasy movie that almost destroyed Disney forever, good luck trying to find any reference to The Black Cauldron anywhere. That’s not to say it’s been scrubbed from existence — it’s available on Disney+ — but the studio never talks about it. This dark, ambitious fantasy was a colossal failure, but there’s actually a lot going for it. It has a distinct style but dim animation, and it’s the first Disney film to have no songs. The characters aren’t very interesting and its villain, The Horned King, is surprisingly inept, despite a frightening design. It’s not a great sign when the production history is more thrilling than the actual film.

The last film made before the beginning of the Renaissance, Oliver & Company takes the familiar story of Oliver Twist to contemporary New York City. Oliver (Joey Lawrence) a stray cat is taken in by Dodger (Billy Joel) a charismatic mutt who shows him the way of the streets. The songs are great, with “Why Should I Worry?” delivering a particularly jaunty joy. There’s some impressive CGI merged with traditional hand-drawn animation, and while it’s not as engaging as other efforts, the film was a rare Eighties box office success for the studio.

The film in the Disney Renaissance that everyone forgets, The Rescuers Down Under is the first official Disney sequel, featuring a new adventure for beloved Rescue Aid Society mice Bernard (Bob Newhart) and Bianca (Eva Gabor). This time, they venture to Australia to save a young boy from a vicious poacher, who’s after his golden eagle. An unheralded film is Disney’s oeuvre, Down Under is an impressive piece of animation, making fantastic use of the expansive Australian outback.

A real treat for gamers like myself, Wreck-It Ralph took Disney into the world of video games: specifically, a video game villain in Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) who’s spent his whole life destroying things. But everything changes when he breaks into another game for redemption. The stakes don’t go high enough, and the moral of embracing yourself despite your flaws is ham-fisted. Sometimes it feels more like an opportunity to point out video game references than to tell a story, but Wreck-It Ralph is still a good time at the movies and raked in enough dough to warrant a sequel.

The final package film featured just two very different stories, inspired by The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. For most of its runtime, it’s satisfying entertainment, but it reaches new heights when the animators blow the roof off of things with the final scene: the headless horseman chase. That sequence is an exhilarating experience. Its use of color and shape feels almost avant-garde. It’s actually terrifying and is a hugely welcome burst of creativity in an era low on it.

Does anyone remember Meet the Robinsons? Orphaned Lewis wants nothing more than to understand why he was put up for adoption, but his life changes forever when he’s flung into the future by one Wilbur Robinson. The film is one of the more curious-looking Disney films, opting for a distinct style that almost (but not quite) makes up for some considerably dated CGI., It’s a shame that Disney ruined so much of its goodwill with Home on the Range and Chicken Little because Meet the Robinsons is a surprisingly funny, heartfelt story that deserves more love.

A celebration of 100 years of Disney, Wish struggles with a convoluted plot that feels too much like a collection of references to other, better Disney movies. Thankfully, its new style that blends CGI and hand-drawn elements is a marvel, most of the songs are hugely satisfying. Asha (Ariana DeBose) is a solid addition to the Disney pantheon, and Chris Pine delightfully hams it up as villain King Magnifico. But it’s the sidekicks Valentino (the ever-impressive Alan Tudyk) and Star that steal the show.

A comic-book adaptation that spawned from the acquisition of Marvel, Big Hero 6 takes place in San Fransokyo, a breathtakingly rendered hybrid of San Francisco and Tokyo. The scale is extraordinary, with over 83,000 buildings and over 100,000 vehicles rendered, with new software Denizen assisting in creating a whopping 700 distinct characters that roam the city. Visually enchanting and with great characters to match — Baymax is one of Disney’s best sidekicks — Big Hero 6 is only really let down by an overly predictable plot (save the first 20 minutes) and a hugely disappointing villain.

Disney evidently forgot to market Strange World, because a) it bombed, and b) nobody seems to know it exists. That sucks, because this sci-fi adventure in the vein of classic explorer movies is delightful. It fulfills dreams of legitimate queer representation that audiences have been longing for, and its father-son dynamic at its core is handled well — even if it’s often overshadowed by an overly familiar story (and environmental message) that fails to live up to its interesting cast and vibrant visuals.

The charming Hercules came as a lighthearted effort toward the end of the Renaissance after one of Disney’s darkest in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Muses are some of the most delightful characters in Disney’s illustrious history, but they largely disappear in the second half when they’re needed most. Alan Menken and David Zippel’s collaboration yields some excellent songs in “Go the Distance” and “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love),” too. Unfortunately, it’s too lighthearted for its own good, lacking the satisfying payoff of its contemporaries. The characters get swallowed up by a story that careens wildly between slapstick comedy and potent drama, which leads to jarring tonal shifts. Hades (James Woods) is also more of a composite of other, better villains than a great one in his own right.   

One of Disney’s zaniest plots, The Aristocats finds longtime servant Edgar trying to kill off a group of cats that stand between him and a vast fortune. It all could have been easily avoided if Edgar applied literally any common sense, but nevertheless, there’s so much fun to be had in The Aristocats. The opening song, performed by Maurice Chevalier (who came out of retirement for this), and the spectacular psychedelics of “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat” are real highlights. The plot barely sustains itself, but there’s so much fun to be had in this cast of characters, with supporters like Abigail and Amelia the geese and Roquefort the mouse providing pure delight. 

One of the strangest Disney movies to rewatch as an adult, as just about everyone besides the crocodile and Smee are pretty nasty (especially the unbearable Peter Pan), and every female character is treated with varying forms of contempt. That doesn’t stop the whole experience from being joyful: It has a wonderful villain in the vicious Captain Hook, and the “You Can Fly” sequence is still one of the most wonderful moments in Disney history. The music is largely terrific, though the song “What Makes the Red Man Red” has aged horrendously — and frankly, was abhorrent even in 1953.

The biggest box office disaster for the studio since The Black Cauldron, Musker and Clements’ follow-up to Aladdin is undeserving of such a title. Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines as Jim Hawkins, a young man whose life changes forever when he stumbles upon a thought-to-be lost treasure map. The film looks expensive, and it was, using revolutionary new technology to bring CGI and hand-drawn elements together seamlessly, creating an awe-inspiring effect. Why they’d pair it with one of the most obnoxious sidekicks in Disney history, we’ll never know.

The seventh and final film co-directed by Disney legends John Musker and Ron Clements, Moana follows spirited and determined princess Moana (a fantastic Auli’i Cravalho), who wants nothing more than to explore beyond the confines of her village. Moana is really a two-hander between the titular Moana and demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), though the film is too happy to rely on the visuals to do the heavy lifting. Great songs courtesy of Lin-Manuel Miranda and the best animated water you’ve ever seen come together for an enjoyable, crowd-pleasing affair.

The Disney film with the most songs — a whopping 14, though over 30 were written for the film — Alice in Wonderland is a tonally faithful adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s unpredictable novel. Disney artist Mary Blair was responsible for influencing the art direction of Alice in Wonderland, and her whimsical designs and thoughtful surrealistic touches make the film one of Disney’s most beautiful works. The characters, from the tremendously sassy flowers to the Cheshire Cat, are hugely memorable, and there’s nothing else quite like it in Disney’s 100 years — for better or worse.

Released during the pandemic, there was no stopping Encanto — especially the songs, one of which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (“We Don’t Talk About Bruno”), the first Disney film to pull off that feat since Aladdin. Incredibly, a whopping seven songs from the film placed in the Top 100. That’s every single song in the movie, by the way. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s excellent songs start the film at such a livewire pace that Encanto can’t keep up and comes puttering to a stop rather than a triumphant finish. But Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) is a fantastic lead, and it’s one of the most thrillingly colorful Disney efforts.