Top 10 Disney Movies

We’re finally at the end! You can read my top 10 Disney movies below, but first of all, I thought it would be interesting to see what your top 10 Disney movies are. I set up a Survey Monkey survey and the results are below:

10 . Moana

9. 101 Dalmatians

8. Beauty and the Beast

7. The Fox and the Hound

6. The Lady and the Tramp

5. Mulan

4. The Little Mermaid

3. Aladdin

2. The Lion King

1. Lilo and Stitch

10. Fantasia – 39/50

Beautifully animated and entirely unique (with the exception of its sequel), this film also has probably the best score of any Disney film, pushing it into the number 10 spot

9. Pinocchio – 40/50

This film’s animation is not only beautiful but was revolutionary for its time – and the music is also fantastic, making this one of the best animated films of its era

8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – 42/50

It might seem like a bold statement, but this is the most underrated Disney film of all time. It has gorgeous animation and music, as well as a beautiful story and one of the greatest Disney villains of all time   

7. Sleeping Beauty – 42/50

This film has probably some of my favourite animation in any film, even outside of Disney and Maleficent is probably my favourite villain, putting this movie at number 7

6. Lilo and Stitch – 41/50

This beautiful and heart-warming story is made even better with some great humour, fantastic animation and a wonderful soundtrack.

5. The Little Mermaid – 44/50

One of the catchiest scores of any Disney film, plus some beautiful animation make this film one of the greats

4. Aladdin – 46/50

This film has it all: one of the best villains, great humour, great heart, an iconic soundtrack – one of the best films of an outstanding era of Disney Animation

3. Tangled – 47/50

In my review I described this film as ‘a perfect balance of old and new’. It modernises and adds depth to many old Disney tropes, whilst also taking on board everything that made the old classics in the canon so good.

2. Beauty and the Beast – 47/50

With a beautiful story at its core, Beauty and the Beast also adds fantastic animation, music and characters to make a true classic.

1.       The Lion King – 48/50

This film has all the music, animation and characters that made the Disney Renaissance so great, but the sheer scope of the whole thing pushes it up to the top spot.

The Top 10 Worst Disney Films

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

We're almost at the end - I'll soon be posting the top 10 best Disney films, but for now, here are the ones that ranked worst on my list.

10.     The Aristocats – 26/50  

Please don’t hurt me for this one. The Aristocats is cute, fun and has some really great music, but its fluffy storyline is over stuffed with filler, with nothing particularly outstanding to push it up the ratings.

9.   Brother Bear – 26/50

Brother Bear is sweet and has some pretty good animation, but is also incredibly predictable and almost entirely unfunny.  

8.    Atlantis: the Lost Empire – 26/50

I feel like I’m going to get some hate for this one. In my opinion, whilst Atlantis has some stunning animation, that’s about all that’s truly great about it. It’s ok, but the potential character development in the plot is completely wasted and the characters are all pretty forgettable.

7.     Oliver and Company – 25/50  

This movie has a decent score (Why Should I Worry is probably one of the most underrated Disney songs of all time), but other than that it’s pretty unoriginal and most of the characters fall a little flat.   

6.     Melody Time – 25/50

In spite of some creative animation and music, Melody Time is ultimately let down by its generic characters and plotlines. In fact, it’s so forgettable that I had to go back into my blog to remind myself of it!

5. Pocahontas – 25/50

Where do I even begin with this film? Outside of how problematic it is historically, it has some fantastic music and great animation – it’s just a shame that the plot is dull and cliché riddled and that the characters go in the same direction.  

4. The Sword in the Stone – 23/50

You wouldn’t think that Disney adapting King Arthur would result in a film as dull and meandering as this one. In spite of it’s entertaining characters, including its great villain, any potential in the plot is squandered on several episodic scenes, containing very disappointing songs and just not holding any real interest. 

3.     The Black Cauldron – 22/50

Again, this is one that just never lives up to it’s potential. In this case, Disney’s attempt at fantasy is marred by dull, cliched characters and an entirely paint by numbers storyline

2.      Chicken Little – 20/50

Chicken Little has promising concept, but it’s completely let down by the bizarre swerves in its storyline, it’s truly dire animation and just the sad desperation to be hip and cool that runs throughout the whole thing. You could’ve had a really good movie here Disney – but you just had to add in lame humour and aliens, didn’t you?

1.       Home on the Range – 11/50

Probably one of the worst films I’ve ever had to sit through. In general not just when talking about Disney. It’s incredibly loud and obnoxious, whilst also being predictable and dull – no other film could’ve sat at the top of this list. Nothing could ever be worse than Home on the Range.

Moana

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There’s just one more movie to add to the list – and how does it stack up to the rest of the films in the canon?

Moana admittedly has a generic storyline, of a young girl who feels she doesn’t belong, who goes on a journey to find herself and save the day. But it makes up for this is spades with some unique twists, genuine emotional sincerity, stunning animation and fantastic music, even outside of Disney finally adding some cultural diversity to their line-up.

The most striking thing about Moana is how incredible the visuals are – the water animation needs to be seen to be believed and the whole film has a lovely colour palette. The two leads are also really fun and the bond they form throughout the film adds the sincerity I mentioned earlier. This is also helped by the twists in the story, which add a tone of originality to what is otherwise a rather unoriginal storyline.

 The music, penned by Mark Mancina, Opetaia Foa’I and Lin Manuel Miranda, has all of the latter’s signature flair and quick wit. It’s also incredibly catchy, with Maui’s solo You’re Welcome being a particular highlight.            

Another very enjoyable character is the villainous crab Tamatoa, but I do wish that this character was developed in a bit more detail. As enjoyable as the character is, his scene does end up feeling a bit like an extended cameo!

Other than that, Moana is a really enjoyable film, with great music, an often beautiful (if sometimes formulaic) storyline and some fantastic animation.

Ratings

Good guys: Two great leads with great chemistry mean that the good guys get 7/10

Bad guys: Te Ka’s storyline is beautiful and Tamatoa is really fun, so the bad guys get 7/10

Animation: Some of the best animation in the canon gets 10/10

Music: I wouldn’t expect anything less than a stellar score from these writers, so unsurprisingly the music gets 8/10

Plot: In spite of genuine emotional sincerity and some really good twists, the storyline is pretty generic, so the plot gets 6/10

Overall score: 38/50

Next time: The Top 10 Worst Movies in the Disney Animated Canon (to be closely followed by the best)

Zootopia

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Zootopia could’ve been a cliched mess, but it’s actually one of the smartest movies in the canon, thanks to the way in which it cleverly delivers its message.

The idea of having talking animals tell a tale about prejudice honestly sounds like something that would usually be aimed at a very young crowd and wouldn’t be very entertaining for anyone else, but this film does things in a completely fresh way. First of all, it sets up its world fantastically – also fantastic is the way that it shows how this world is adapted to allow various animals to live together. In combination with its great animation, this makes the scene where Judy Hopps first enters Zootopia one of the best scenes in the film.

It also delves deeper, intelligently mimicking real-world issues to really pack a punch at certain points. And a lot of the time it’s really funny too!

The only weak spot in the film is the villain – I appreciate what they were trying to do, but it just doesn’t work for me. The twist villains are getting kind of dull at this point and here it means that the bad guys motivation seems to come out of nowhere, as the audience isn’t really given enough time to process the fact that this character is evil.

Other than that, this film is among the best of the modern era, thanks to its great animation, sharp script and smart storytelling.  

Ranking

Good guys: It has a compelling lead who also learns from her mistakes in Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde provides an entertaining foil for her, meaning that the good guys get 8/10

Bad guys: They had good intentions with the bad guy, but it falls a little flat, so the bad guys get 4/10

Animation: Some really nice animation gets 7/10

Music: There is a really fun score here and Try Everything is also a great song, so the music gets 7/10

Plot: A  clever plot gets 10/10

Overall score: 36/50

Next review: Moana

Big Hero 6

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Big Hero 6 may seem like your average superhero movie at first glance, but the depths of its plot put it up there with the best films of its era. As the title would suggest, the film focuses on the formation of the eponymous team of superheroes, led by 14-year old tech genius named Hiro.

From the emotional depth of the storyline and themes, to the parallels between the hero and the villain, this film has a level of depth and maturity not seen in many animated films in general. The animation is also very well done and the way in which San Francisco and Tokyo blend to form the film’s high-tech setting is also rather impressive.

Considering the lack of diversity in many Disney films, it should also be commended for its incredibly diverse main cast. And although all of the side characters other than Hiro are admittedly rather underdeveloped, they’re likable enough to be entertaining.  

The fact that Hiro makes as many mistakes and goes through as many emotions as a real 14-year old would, as opposed to being a perfect paragon of virtue, is also rather refreshing, as well as being more realistic. But by far the best character in the film is Baymax, the robotic nurse created by Hiro’s brother. He is as adorable and hilarious as Stitch and is also a fairly unique character on his own.

Overall, Big Hero 6 is a very entertaining and surprisingly deep film, which you should definitely check out if you haven’t seen it already.

Rating

Good guys: All of the protagonists are both unique and likable (if a tad underdeveloped in places), whilst Baymax is one of my favourite Disney sidekicks, so the good guys get 6/10

Bad guys: Disney once again uses the twist villain, but it works well here due to the parallels between their story and Hiro’s, so the bad guy gets 7/10

Animation: The city of San Franksoyko is very well designed, so the animation gets 6/10

Music: The movie has a really good score and Immortals is one of my favourite Disney songs, so the music gets 7/10

Plot: A moving plot gets 10/10

Overall score: 36/50

Next review: Zootopia

Frozen

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Whichever way you go reviewing this movie, it’s always going to be controversial – this is honestly one of the most divisive films in the canon. Personally, I feel like the Frozen-hate on the internet has gotten massively out of hand. Even before it blew up into a monster that even I got a bit sick of, I always thought that it was a stellar film, with a brilliant soundtrack, a heart warming story and some stunning animation.

You all know (and either love or hate) the story of sisters Anna and Elsa and Elsa’s ice powers, so I don’t really feel like I need to explain the plot. It’s a really sweet story, which also cleverly subverts a lot of Disney tropes, especially ‘true love’ and our typical perception of Disney heroes and villains. Anna and Elsa are both great protagonists, with Anna being a fun central character and Elsa’s struggle being the best part of the film (in fact, and rather unfortunately, I find Elsa’s story to be far more compelling than Anna’s, which is a bit of a flaw in the narrative considering we spend far more time with Anna.)

But my favourite thing about this film is its soundtrack. It’s as dramatic, fun and emotive as any great musical needs to be. And yes, I still think Let It Go is a great song, in spite of how overplayed it has become. One final note is that much of the animation is incredible, particularly in my personal favourite segment of the film, the scene where Anna visits Elsa’s ice palace.

Overall, Frozen is a really enjoyable film, with some great music and animation, which is well worth a watch if you’re the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen it yet.

Ratings

Good guys: Anna and Elsa both make very likable protagonists, so the good guys get 7/10

Bad Guys: The villain is surprisingly effective considering their short amount of screen-time, so the bad guy gets 7/10

Animation: Some really great animation gets 8/10

Music: A stellar soundtrack gets 9/10

Plot: A heart warming and clever story gets 8/10

Overall: 39/50

Next review: Big Hero 6

Wreck it Ralph

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Wreck it Ralph was another step in a different direction for Disney, with it’s video-game focused plot and generally more ‘Pixar’ style, but this time it paid off massively. This is an incredibly sweet and heart-warming film, with great animation and a very original storyline.

Within the world of arcade games, the arbitrary villain of an 80s style game, the eponymous Wreck it Ralph, is sick of being the bad guy, so he decides to travel to various games to change everybody’s perception of who he is. Along the way, he meets a little girl named Vanellope Von Schweetz, from a racing game called Sugar Rush (think Mario-Kart meets Candyland) and their friendship is probably the strongest part of the film.

One of it’s only weak spots is that Vanellope is kind of annoying at first, but this fades away as you learn more about her character and as her aforementioned friendship with Ralph grows. The plot is one of the most original in the canon and the way in which various characters and tropes from the gaming world are woven in the storyline is very clever. In particular, I love the way that the worldbuilding is so detailed and yet is done so subtly that it never feels like they’re shoving exposition in your face.

And speaking of things being woven into the plot, this film has one of my favourite scores from any Disney film, as the way in which it adds to the theme and atmosphere of the entire movie is fantastic.

There is some nice animation on display here too and I especially love the way that all of the background characters in Fix it Felix Jnr. move as if they are in 8-bit, it’s very nicely done.

Overall, Wreck it Ralph is a clever and charming film which is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it.

Ratings

Good guys: Ralph and Vanellope are both fun main characters on their own and have great chemistry together, so the good guys get 7/10

Bad Guys: King Candy is a fun villain, so he gets 6/10

Animation: There is some really nice animation here, so that gets 6/10

Music: A fantastic score gets 9/10

Plot: A very clever and original storyline gets 9/10

Overall: 37/50

Next review: Frozen