There’s never a wrong time to watch a Disney movie. Walt Disney Studios has, over the years, continued to produce evergreen blockbuster films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lion King, Cinderella, and a whole lot more. You can keep the list going!
But where do our favorites rank among the best Disney movies of all time? Let’s find out.
In this article, I’ll be listing the 15 best Disney movies of all time. Do you still want to miss out on this? I guess not.
Table of contents
- Why You Should Watch Disney Movies
- 15 Best Disney Movies of All Time In 2022
- 15. Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
- 14. Cinderella (1950)
- 13. Tangled (2010)
- 12. Bambi (1942)
- 11. Mulan (1998)
- 10. Up (2009)
- 9. The Princess and the Frog (2009)
- 8. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- 7. Aladdin (1992)
- 6. Moana (2016)
- 5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- 4. Pinocchio (1940)
- 3. The Little Mermaid (1989)
- 2. Lion King (1994)
- 1. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
- FAQs on Best Disney Movie of All Time
- Conclusion
- References
Why You Should Watch Disney Movies
Here are a few reasons why you should watch Disney movies:
1. They Have Something for Everyone
Watt Disney Company has something for everyone ranging from animated films for kids to feature films. There is just everything for everybody at Disney.
Disney is divided into four large content groups.
The Watt Disney Studios – This consists of the company’s filmed entertainment and theatrical business. It houses Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Disneynature, and Disney Theatrical Group.
Disney General Entertainment Content – This comprises the company’s entertainment TV channels and production companies in the United States. Such as Watt Disney Television, Disney Branded television, FX Networks, ABC News, and National Geographic Partners.
ESPN – This subset of Disney studios focuses on live sports broadcasting, sports news, and other scripted sports-related content.
International Content and Operations Group – This section of Disney studios oversees local and regional content intended for the global market.
2. Their Movies Revolves Around Family and Friends
Disney characters are frequently faced with complex tasks or long travels, but they are generally accompanied by someone who can help them along the way.
Even if the protagonist injured them at some point, their pals can cheer them up and provide the assistance they require when things aren’t going well.
After viewing the beautiful mother-daughter relationship in Brave or the old friendship between Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, you’ll be more than a little motivated to give your nearest loved one a big embrace.
3. Disney Movies Unite Different People
An exciting movie knows no friend or enemy. You can discuss Disney movies with practically anyone, from an elderly woman who saw Cinderella when it first premiered to a child who never gets tired of Tangled.
The sweetness of their movies fascinates viewers long after the film has ended.
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4. In Disney Movies, Dreams Come Through
Dreams, hopes, and heart desires are all possible in a Disney film. These fantastical desires may not be realized in real life; sadly, we live in a world where practicality frequently prevails.
With a Disney film, you may immerse yourself in a world where wishes can come true, happy endings are nearly guaranteed, and the practical concerns of everyday life can be temporarily forgotten.
5. Disney Films Theme Songs Are Just the Best
Another huge aspect of Disney movies is the energetic, theatrical theme songs. Even if you aren’t a fan of Broadway music, these songs will compel you to want to sing along.
15 Best Disney Movies of All Time In 2022
A tale as old as time; nobody does it better than Walt Disney Studio.
With some of the most memorable movies, refreshingly bright characters, and all-time great movies, some may argue that Disney Movies are the best thing to happen to mankind in terms of films.
You be the judge.
15. Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
The only similarity between this Disney film and the original Hans Christian Andersen story is that both feature a conceited ruler.
The Disney version, on the other hand, is entirely different. After firing his advisor Yzma (Earth Kitt), the immature Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) is transformed into a llama.
He can reclaim his throne with the help of Pacha (John Goodman) and learns essential lessons in generosity and humanity along the way.
Yzma isn’t the most terrible of Disney villains, but she and her sidekick Kronk are two of the most amusing.
14. Cinderella (1950)
Next on our list of best Disney movies of all time is Cinderella. I’m sure we’ve all heard of the name Cinderella. In this second princess movie after Snow White, Cinderella finds true love and happiness.
Despite her stepmother and stepsisters’ nefarious schemes, she manages to save herself with the help of her fairy godmother and animal friends.
In 1951, “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo,” which featured several iconic songs, was nominated for an Academy Award for best original music.
13. Tangled (2010)
Tangled is a 2010 animated musical adventure comedy film created by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.
While this 2010 adaptation is about a little girl with gloriously long golden hair held hostage in a tower by an evil witch, it differs significantly from the original 19th-century tale.
The film tells the story of Rapunzel, a lost young princess with magical long blonde hair who yearns to leave her secluded tower.
Against her foster mother’s desires, she accepts the aid of an intruder to take her out into a world that she has never seen.
12. Bambi (1942)
Bambi, a 1942 American animated drama film, was directed by David Hand and produced by Walt Disney.
This Disney movie of all time is just a replica of the book, ‘Bambi, a Life in the Woods, by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten.
In the book, Bambi was originally a roe deer, a European species, but Disney opted to model the figure after a mule deer from Arrowhead, California.
The lead characters are Bambi, a white-tailed deer; his parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mother); his friends Thumper (a pink-nosed rabbit); and Flower (a skunk); and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline.
According to Wikipedia, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound (Sam Slyfield), Best Song (Donald Novis’ “Love Is a Song”), and Original Music Score.
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11. Mulan (1998)
Mulan is one of Disney’s movies of all time. Walt Disney Feature Animation produced it for Walt Disney Pictures in 1998.
In the movie, The Huns, headed by the ferocious Shan Yu, break the Great Wall and invades imperial Han China.
The Emperor issues a general mobilization order in the Imperial City, with conscription notices demanding one member from each family to join the Imperial Chinese Army.
Fa Mulan is an adventurous and energetic young woman in the South, much to her family’s dismay, who expects her to bring honor to the family.
10. Up (2009)
Up is a Disney film that is both painful and heartwarming simultaneously. This Pixar film hits you in the gut right away with a heartbreaking look at the ultimate demise of all beautiful things.
Thankfully, what begins as a picture of loss and despair swiftly transforms into a joyful story of a guy who believes he has lost all reason to live, finding hope in a tiny boy who needs him.
Inside Out is another Pixar film that punches you in the feels like this one, but to keep my list to only 12 choices, I choose to highlight Up instead.
It’s mainly due to Doug, the talking dog, if I’m being honest.
9. The Princess and the Frog (2009)
The Princess and the Frog is Disney’s last conventional animated feature film. It also happens to be a modern classic.
In this best Disney movie of all time, Tiana is played by Anika Noni Rose, a young African American woman in the 1920s who dreams of running her restaurant in New Orleans.
At the same time, Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) arrives in town to seek his riches before being cursed and turned into a frog by Dr. Facilier, a voodoo-empowered shadow man (Keith David).
Tiana becomes a frog when she meets and kisses Naveen to break the curse. And it’s up to them and a few new allies to stop Facilier before the curse becomes irreversible.
According to Wikipedia, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences, praising the animation (particularly the medium’s revival), characters, music, and themes.
It was also a box office success, debuting first in North America and grossing around $269 million worldwide, making it Disney’s most successful traditionally animated film since Lilo & Stitch in 2002 and the animation studio’s most successful film overall since Tarzan.
8. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Disney’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s 19th-century work is one of the most magical and strange films ever made.
The film features the voices of Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts, and Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter.
Alice is distracted by her sister’s history lesson in the movie and begins daydreaming about a strange world. She notices a passing White Rabbit in a waistcoat who laments his tardiness.
Alice pursues him into a burrow, where she falls into a bottomless pit. Upon arriving, she is confronted with a little door, the handle of which instructs her to drink from a bottle on a nearby table.
7. Aladdin (1992)
Aladdin is a 1992 animated musical fantasy comedy film released by Walt Disney Pictures and produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. The film was the fourth created under the Disney Renaissance and is the 31st Disney animated feature.
In the film, Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin, finds a magic lamp with a genie. He disguises himself as a wealthy prince and tries to impress the Sultan and his daughter, Princess Jasmine.
After using one of his three wishes to be changed into Prince Ali, Aladdin wins the heart of Princess Jasmine and defeats Jafar.
Don’t worry if I’ve raised your curiosity. You can watch the movie by clicking the link below.
6. Moana (2016)
Moana is the story of a Polynesian village chief’s adventurous teenage daughter. She must sail across the ocean to find the demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) and return an ancient stone to the goddess Te Fiti to preserve her village.
This film, which has music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is one of Disney’s most exciting and unique stories in years.
The film grossed more than $645 million worldwide. Additionally, Moana received two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“How Far I’ll Go”) at the 89th Academy Awards.
5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
This best Disney movie of all time was Walt Disney Studios’ first full-length animated picture and the first animated movie ever created in Technicolor.
Snow White is a princess who lives with her vain stepmother. The Queen, fearful that the young girl will surpass her in beauty, makes Snow White serve as a scullery maid and asks her Magic Mirror daily, “Who is the fairest of all?” For years, the mirror has consistently replied that the Queen is present, which has pleased her.
Snow White is now “the fairest,” according to the Magic Mirror, which informs the Queen one day.
Snow White eventually meets and falls in love with a prince who overhears her singing on the same day.
She is later taken into the forest by the Queen’s Huntsman, who intends to kill her and returns with her heart in a jeweled box.
The Huntsman, unable to murder Snow White, apologizes and says that the Queen wants her dead. He then tells her to run out into the woods and never return.
With international earnings of more than $8 million during its first release (compared to its $1.5 million budget), it shortly held the record for the highest-grossing sound film.
4. Pinocchio (1940)
Pinocchio is the second full-length animation film from Walt Disney Animation Studios after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
In the film, an old Italian woodcarver named Geppetto carves a wooden puppet named Pinocchio.
The puppet is brought to life by a blue fairy, who informs him that he can become a real boy if he establishes himself to be “brave, truthful, and unselfish”. Pinocchio’s actions to become a real boy involve encounters with various unsavory characters.
The key character of Jiminy Cricket is based on a 100-year “wise, old” talking cricket from the original book,[4], who warns Pinocchio of his impudence when they meet only to be killed in return shortly after, before returning as a ghost.
It won two Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score, and Best Music, Original Song for “When You Wish Upon a Star,” making it the first animated film to do so.
3. The Little Mermaid (1989)
This 1989 movie is typically based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.
The film tells the story of a mermaid named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.
The Little Mermaid premiered in theaters on November 17, 1989, to great acclaim, with the animation, soundtrack, and characters receiving praise.
It was also a financial success, grossing $84 million in the United States during its initial release [4] and $235 million worldwide in total lifetime profit.
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2. Lion King (1994)
This evergreen best Disney movie of all time contains everything you might desire from a Disney film, including appealing animal characters, complex ideas, and a famous soundtrack composed by Elton John and Tim Rice.
You know, it’s good since the original film became one of the most successful Broadway musicals of all time.
Look no further than the lifeless “live-action” remake, mostly CGI, for proof of how great the original Lion King is. The Lion King 2 and The Lion King 1 and 1/2, which are worth seeing if you haven’t already, were inspired by the original film.
The story is set in an African lion kingdom, and it was inspired by the Biblical legends of Joseph and Moses, as well as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Simba (Swahili for lion) is a young lion who is to follow his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after Simba’s paternal uncle Scar murders Mufasa to claim the throne, Simba is duped into believing he is to blame and flees into exile.
Simba gains vital insight from his childhood friend Nala and his shaman Rafiki before returning to face Scar to end his tyranny and reclaim his proper place in the Circle of Life as the legitimate King after growing up in the company of the carefree misfits Timon and Pumbaa.
With a worldwide gross of $763 million, it concluded its theatrical run as the highest-grossing film of 1994 and the second-highest-grossing film of all time, behind Jurassic Park (1993).
1. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
This international blockbuster focuses on the relationship between the Beast (voiced by Robby Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster and his minions into household objects as a punishment for his hubris, and Belle (voiced by Paige O’Hara), a young woman who he imprisons in his castle.
To remove the spell, the Beast must learn to love Belle and earn her love before an enchanted rose’s last petal falls, or he will forever be a monster. Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury appear in the film.
The film gained significant critical acclaim for its romance narrative, animation (especially the ballroom scene), characters, and musical numbers, grossing $331 million worldwide on a $25 million budget.
Beauty and the Beast was the first animated picture to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
FAQs on Best Disney Movie of All Time
The best movie of all time is Beauty and the Beast, released in 1991
PoundToy’s research reveals that Mickey Mouse is not only Disney’s most recognizable character; he’s also the world’s best-loved, based on more than 1.3 million Instagram posts with the hashtag #MickeyMouse and over 34 million Google searches for the iconic mouse across the globe.
Gaston was the first male villain to appear in a princess movie.
Conclusion
Over the years, Disney has focused talents on making their films, giving them an edge. If you are looking for the best Disney movie, I’m sure the list above can suffice.
References
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