Walt Disney have independently produced or partnered with Pixar to give us some of the best animations of all time.
This list has many of the great animations from Disney’s early years (1937 - 1988) and their Renaissance era (1989 – 1999), but whether we must admit Walt Disney animation studio have bounced back and are now creating new masterpieces.
This list may be short of good movies like, Mulan (1998), Bolt (2008) or that memorable Peter Pan (1953). But since we must list 25, some of your favorites will be left out so feel free to let us know which we forgot.
Here is our top 25 so far
25.
Beauty and the beast (1991)
Great sing along songs to jive too, memorable characters and all round enjoyable screenplay, Disney’s take on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast is different, enjoyable and one of the best adaptations there is.
The animation itself is a magical journey with enough stops at musical entertainment to make it easy to keep up with the what is going on. This Broadway musical blend is one of the best that Disney created in the Renaissance era and their further adaption into live-action of this same tale is also one of the best adaptations they have done.
24.
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Lady lives with a refined fairly wealthy couple who pampers and cares for her, while Tramp was a stray who has gone accustomed to life on the streets.
The animation focuses on how the two met, and the romantic adventures they got into and how they grew to love one another and be there for each other.
23.
The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
The Emperor's New Groove was released in 2000 and in the same year Disney also released before it, Fantasia and Dinosaur. The Emperor's New Groove was Disney’s 40th animated feature film, and it is one animation you can watch and not get tired of. The production was done to be straight to the point, and the movie shed away the weights of having to many characters.
Just two leads, one human Pacha and the other which has been turned into a llama Kuzco.
The bonding between the two lead characters is what is magical about this ride and the rate of selfishness of the arrogant young Incan emperor named Kuzco was something better seen than heard. It was his selfishness and cruelty that made it hard to feel pity for him when his adviser, Yzma turned him into a llama to gain rule over the country.
22.
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Walt Disney like many kids his age grew up reading Lewis Carroll’s books and during his desire to break into animation making, Disney did a short loosely based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the short was part of a series he made called Newman’s laugh-o grams.
When the Laugh-o gram series ended, Disney sourced for distributors for his idea called Alice’s Comedies which he used the loosely based Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland short from the laugh-o gram to pitch the series (Alice’s Comedies, was a live action meet animation series), he finally did find distributors and the series was done and it ran from 1924 to 1927.
After the success of Snow White, Disney then wanted to put his Alice Comedies into work, this time having the movie based more closely to its original work.
21.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Little Mermaid is the 28th Disney animated feature film, and this animated musical fantasy film is credited as the film that brought Disney animation back to the limelight.
The plot is based on Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, “The Little Mermaid.” The book was about a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul.
Disney took the tale from the book and turned it all around.
20.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
With one of the most iconic villains in the whole world of villains, Cruella De Vil made this movie spectacular. Yes, there was the fun of seeing spotted pups moving around in the snow trying to get home. The adventure of trying to make it back home while being chased by two hard heads wanting to kill these beautiful dogs. Then there was the love and romance between the lead human characters and the lead dogs. All of this does not add up to the beautiful song, when the lead male character wrote a song on the fly when he met Cruella De Vil. Nor does it take the power off the iconic villain herself.
19.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Disney’s first full length animated feature is just masterful, the thing is, it is so good that it is very hard to believe that this is the first, the one that began the Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast Tarzan and more. The movie boasts of a score that you will love and come to respect. Disney’s beginning was so good that you just have to dip your hat to the dream of Walt Disney himself.
18.
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
The movie is full of entertainment and will appeal to a wide audience of both young and old, the video game references will be well received by older viewers, the younger viewers will love the rest the movie has to offer.
The movie takes me back to the old days when graphics wasn’t key when making a video game, just fun. I loved seeing M Bison and Zangief from Street Fighter.
Wreck-It Ralph is a complete package of laughter, fun and some deep emotional tone good for everyone.
17.
The Jungle Book (1967)
The last animated movie produced by Walt Disney also ranks as one of the best animated production from the mouse house.
The movie has it all, songs, comedy, action, drama and love. What is there not to like in watching this animated feature?
You can watch it now (based on that fact you have seen it as a child) and still find yourself singing along.
16.
Tangled (2010)
When you get to see Tangled you will be left laughing hard at the comedic adventure, which makes this animation one you will love to see more than once.
Much of the praise in this movie goes to the character development, Rapunzel was a tough lady and not your everyday princess waiting to be rescued. Her core driving force was to be able to prove she could take care of herself in the real world, regardless that she has never really experienced living in it.
15.
Frozen (2013)
I grew up on the Disney musical classics, and I loved them all, the songs were easy to sing along to and were catchy. As time passed we all got old, and Disney kind of lost their grasp on the whole musical thing, they started to produce nonmusical animations some of which struggled in the box office.
Then along came Tangled which was good enough and a nice introduction back to the old musicals. Disney studios dusted through their shelf, to find this long awaited release, started production on it and the rest is history.
Now the whole world in 2013 could not stop singing "Let it go."
14.
Aladin (1992)
Aladdin is a Disney cartoon with a character that we all wish we had as friend, the genie. Aladdin is filled with endless thrills, table turning plans and music that you can’t help to like and sing along to. The movie’s intro is in form of a narrative, where a merchant tells us the tale of Aladdin and his magic lamp.
13.
Robin Hood (1973)
They have been many animated adaptations of Robin Hood’s story. There have also been many adaptions of stories where anthropomorphic animals rather than humans are used to depict the characters. Disney’s 1973 animation Robin Hood is the best of both worlds.
The animation did justice to memorable plotlines, memorable characters, memorable songs and entertaining subplots.
For me this animation has not gotten the needed recognition it deserves, and many will have forgotten that it was done.
Here stands one of the best retelling of the local British folk hero.
12.
Hercules (1997)
All you have to do is see it once and the numerous catchphrases in the animated movie will stick to you. Hercules is one of Disney’s memorable animated movies and it is part of the last three feature animated film during their Renaissance Era, followed by Mulan (1998) and Tarzan (1999).
Hercules is funny, action packed and with such a deep mysterious tale that on first watch it was hard to pinpoint how the movie was going to go.
Very loosely based on the legendary Greek hero Heracles (known by his Roman name, Hercules) this Disney movie is their 35th animated feature film. It has a great voice performance from James Woods, who is voiced of Hades.
11.
Inside Out (2015)
When Pixar did Finding Nemo (2003)I delayed in seeing it because I was wondering a movie about fish, how good can it get, but after seeing it I never doubted their capability. Here is a movie I thought will struggle to get along, after seeing this movie, anyone who dulls or drags their feet to see it is the one who is missing out.
Disney/Pixar’s 15th 3D computer animated full length movie Inside Out... I have to say is amazing. Every moment in the movie is intriguing the best thing about this movie is, everything seemed new.
10.
WALL-E (2008)
WALL-E is just a sweet movie, which deals on the loneliness and determination of a singular robot that developed sentience while watching videos of human interaction and listening to music.
9.
The Incredibles (2004)
This is my bankable companion for action, The Incredibles is an action packed and comedy filled computer animation superhero film, which juggles between the superhero life and the suburban life.
8.
Monster's Inc. (2001)
Nothing warms me more for laughs than anytime I get to sit down and watch Monster’s Inc. This is one Pixar animation that I hold dear to heart, I loved it so much that I didn’t desire for them to make a sequel, because I felt they will wreck what is already a masterpiece.
7.
Finding Dory (2016)
Finding Dory is the long awaited follow up to Disney/Pixar 2003 computer animated comedy adventure, Finding Nemo. At the time of Finding Nemo’s release it was number 1 in the highest grossing animation of all time.
The magic of Finding Nemo can be found in memorable characters that make up the adventure of a fish searching the whole ocean for his son. Each character from the movie had a specific view and twist from being normal, this made the lead characters Marlin, Dory and Nemo fit in perfectly as we are taking on a wonderful journey under the sea.
So, from the get go, Disney had the characters with a perfect foundation for this sequel. Now the focus in this sequel is on Dory as you could have guessed from the title, but her new family Marlin and Nemo were in for the ride.
6.
The Many Adventures of Winne the Pooh (1977)
Pooh is my favorite Disney Character and I just don’t know why. His ability to make every problem minuet to his lack of honey is one that makes me laugh every time.
5.
Tarzan (1999)
The script is dynamic, although you have read the book and seen various cartoons depicting this hero of the jungle, Disney’s version just kept changing as the acts go by.
If by any chance you are reading this and haven’t seen this movie, then where have you been?
4.
Toy Story (1995)
Every child dreams of his toys coming to life and playing back, but the main idea has always been what it will be like if toys did come to life. Well Toy Story answered that question in a more enlighten way that made you eager to see more of the adventures Andy’s toys were getting into. Toy Story has a masterpiece storyline that makes you just sit and wonder, the screenplay that blends this toy acts to human interaction is so well done, that if not that the fact that this can’t be true, this movie may make kids think this is possible.
3.
The Lion King (1994)
Hakuna Matata, the catchphrase that this movie made many say for years, the movie is full of action and fun, that has made it one of the best 2D animation one could see.
2.
Zootopia (2016)
Packing more laughs than an average animation should, Zootopia also has a message for you:
Keep believing in yourself when nobody else will and be a doer not a viewer. Another message from the movie I truly admired was when Hopp refused to see her current position as a meter-maid as a stepdown from her dream, she made sure she was the best meter-maid there was and when an opportunity made itself available to do more she did.
1.
Finding Nemo (2003)
Since the day I saw this movie it has always stood as my all time best animation and my all time Disney favorite. It is funny, entertaining and captivating as we watch a father clown fish Marlin (Albert Brooks) is thrown into a state of desperation to save his son and he goes through all form of adventures in his dying need to make sure he keeps his promise of letting nothing happen to him, his son Nemo (Alexander Gould). Nemo was captured by underwater divers, and taken to Sydney. So Marlin (Nemo’s Father) went on an unwilling adventure to save his son, with him was Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) a fish who suffers from short term memory loss.
There is not much to add but this is a classic that all should see, not because of the high ratings and the accolades and records that it holds, but for the gentle breeze of a cool soothing story that can only bring smiles to the face of any viewer.