Disney has been churning out family favorite films for the better part of a century now,
so there are a ton of great animated and live-action films to choose from in their collection.
It's becoming increasingly difficult to pin down which of their movies stand out as the
most important of all, but here are our picks for the 15 best Disney movies, not including
those blockbuster Marvel and Star Wars adventures, of course.
Up
What makes this movie such an instant classic is the charming partnership between its main
characters: a young Boy Scout, and a stodgy old man who retrofits his house to float up,
up, and away to fulfill his long-denied dream of getting away from it all with his late
wife.
Warm and filled with colorful imagery and one gut-punch of an emotional payoff, Up stands
out as an unforgettable animated adventure, and you'll never see helium balloons or golden
retrievers quite the same way.
"My name is Dug.
I have just met you and I love you."
Wall-E
The central characters in Wall-E may not say much, but the movie remains a showcase of
what can happen when top-notch animation meets unbridled creativity.
"Tada!"
Part dystopian disaster and part love story, the film offers a devastating look at the
future of mankind and Earth, if our wasteful ways continue unchecked.
Wall-E's cute robots only want to make the world a better place, though, so audiences
are invited to remain optimistic about the future without them verbally telling us why.
Beauty and the Beast
The story of Belle, Disney's most academically inclined princess, Beauty and the Beast has
claimed the hearts of millions for good reason: at its core, it's about a girl who decides
not to judge a book by its cover and finds her own happy ending.
Sure, it's less than ideal that she was imprisoned by the Beast before falling in love with him.
But the beauty of this animated classic's visual dynamism overcomes those flaws to make
this movie a complete triumph, and the recent live-action adaptation was almost as compelling
as the original.
Frozen
A celebration of both songs and princesses, Frozen offers not one but two imitable young
ladies, Princesses Anna and Elsa, to fill the must-have costume racks while transforming
Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen into something far less dreary and much more whimsical.
It's also stunningly beautiful, with an icy landscape serving as an elegant background
to the thawing sisterly relationship.
Parents might be more than ready to let the film's soundtrack go already, but its earworm
quality is just a small part of what makes this a must-watch for kids.
The Incredibles
This action-adventure flick might've preceded Marvel's decade of big screen superhero domination,
but it still holds up as a delightful reminder of what makes costumed adventure stories so
fun to watch in the first place.
Of course, The Incredibles is far more cartoonish than anything in the MCU, but it takes full
advantage of the quirky possibilities of an animated superhero movie with characters that
boast a broad range of abilities, and it takes viewers on a heartfelt family journey along
the way.
Cinderella
Cinderella has become a cornerstone of the Disney catalog, since it's her castle that
makes up Disney's logo and all.
Modern audiences might take issue with the notion that Cinderella only becomes the object
of her prince's affection after getting a magical makeover, but Cinderella's staying
power is as undeniable as her determination to escape the clutches of her mean stepmonsters.
Inside Out
This Disney-Pixar adventure takes a clever look of the way the human mind works, animating
the emotions and impulses fighting for control of its main character while trying to protect
the core memories making up the basis of her personality.
"No dessert?
Oh sure.
We'll eat our dinner right after you eat this, AGHHHH!"
In the story, our young heroine Riley has to adjust to a new life as her family relocates
to another city, and that shift is the spark that sends her from the happy-go-lucky child
she once was into the rebellious tween phase — a change that happens to most people at
some point anyway, so it feels very familiar and authentically adolescent.
Rather than rely upon constructs of fiction, like most cartoons, Inside Out borrows from
reality to offer some heavy truths in an amusing animated package.
Mary Poppins
Author P.L.
Travers was infamously unhappy with Disney's adaptation of her story, but Mary Poppins
arrived in theaters as an instant musical evergreen.
We can thank the movie's depiction of its eponymous magical nanny for memorable songs
like "A Spoonful of Sugar" and for raising the musical and visual bar on the genre as
a whole.
Aladdin
Disney really did take audiences to a whole new world with this animated hit.
Aladdin centered on the rags-to-riches story of a "street rat" who stumbles upon a magic
lamp containing a 10,000 year old genie, who was all too happy to join him on his magic
carpet ride.
The stunning scenery, music, and all the other memorable characters are all beyond reproach.
But it's Robin Williams' Genie that really elevates the picture to hilarious new heights.
Peter Pan
If there's one thing we learned from Peter Pan, it's to never surrender that sense of
youth and wonder… and, of course, to never smile at a crocodile.
There've been many terrible attempts to recreate the magic of Peter Pan and his Never Never
Land, but nothing has come close to touching the simple sophistication of the first version,
which thrust its sleepy little heroes into a living dream that played with elements of
fantasy, like mermaids, fairies, and sniveling old pirates.
The film is fun, plain and simple, and mostly stands the test of time because, like its
title character, it never gets old.
Alice in Wonderland
The animated adaptation of Lewis Carroll's story is a visual extravaganza that plays
well to children and adults alike.
The movie follows its title character down the rabbit hole into a dreamlike, and, at
times, nightmarish — land of otherworldly creatures that challenge her wits and resolve.
The eerie landscapes were bested only by its cast of memorable characters.
The movie is the definition of trippy and still stands above the studio's live-action
remake.
Finding Nemo
Finding Dory might've been more commercially successful than its predecessor, but Finding
Nemo set the tone for its successful sequel in virtually every way.
The film followed a clownfish named Marlin and a forgetful Blue tang named Dory on their
exhausting adventure to find Marlin's lost son Nemo within an actual ocean of obstacles.
While Finding Dory certainly touched on all of the successful elements of the first film,
namely, tracking down a missing fish who's been scooped from the sea with the help of
some adorable finny friends, the soul of the first adventure was so much stronger.
Lady and the Tramp
Even thinking about the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp is bound to induce feelings
of both hunger and romance.
This story of a proper society pooch who accidentally lands herself in the company of strays is
a pure delight, and while Disney's 101 Dalmations also had a full-on litter of doggies to love,
there's simply no film furbaby quite as graceful as Miss Lady Ma'am, whose friends are also
as human as any two-legged type could hope to be.
Toy Story 3
This may have been the third outing for Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang, but Toy Story
3 outshone the previous two installments in the way of emotional impact.
The film picks up with Andy heading off to college, where having a cowboy and space doll
won't earn him any cool points in his dorm.
The toys are packed up for the attic but are accidentally sent to a daycare filled with
reckless children and a bully bear.
Together, they have to fight their way back to where they belong… wherever that might
be now that Andy's no longer a kid.
Their journey offers an emotional parable about the process of abandoning childish things
and really resonates with audiences, particularly adults who might've been surprised to find
themselves bawling over the lost toys that symbolized so many bittersweet bygones.
The Lion King
This family favorite really does offer the full circle of Disney's animated strengths.
The film is rich with stunning landscapes and teeming with character variety and morals;
on top of all that, there are deeply identifiable sets of emotion at play.
For kids, it's easy to understand Simba's joy, desperation for freedom, and his sense
of being lost without his family framework.
For parents, protecting your kids at all costs becomes the most base instinct of all, so
everything about this movie's story rings true.
"Let an old pro show you how it's done."
Add in one outstanding soundtrack, and it's no wonder The Lion King still reigns supreme.