MRQE Ranks: The Best to Worst Disney Animated Features

1

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Cast: Lucille La Verne, Harry Stockwell, Otis Harlan, Eddie Collins, Stuart Buchanan

Director: David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen

Synopsis: It was called "Disney's Folly." Who on earth would want to sit still for 90 minutes to watch an animated cartoon? And why pick a well-worn Grimm's ... [MORE]

2

Bambi (1942)

Director: David Hand

Synopsis: The classic Felix Salter story Bambi provides the basis for this near-perfect Disney animated feature. We follow the male deer Bambi from birth, th... [MORE]

3

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Cast: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers

Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Synopsis: Beauty and the Beast is widely considered the best animated Disney feature of the studio's 1980s/1990s renewal of the form. Based on the classic Fr... [MORE]

4

Aladdin (1992)

Director: John Musker, Ron Clements

Synopsis: Robin Williams's dizzying and hilarious voicing of the Genie is the main attraction of Aladdin, the third in the series of modern Disney animated m... [MORE]

5

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Director: Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson

Synopsis: Lady and the Tramp represented two "firsts" for Disney: It was the studio's first Cinemascope animated feature, and it was their first full-length ... [MORE]

6

Fantasia (1940)

Cast: Deems Taylor, The Philadelphia Orchestra

Director: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Walt Disney, Norman Ferguson, Jim Handley, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield

Synopsis: Fantasia, Walt Disney's animated masterpiece of the 1940s, grew from a short-subject cartoon picturization of the Paul Dukas musical piece The Sorc... [MORE]

7

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Director: John Musker, Ron Clements

Synopsis: Disney's The Little Mermaid was the first in a series of blockbusters that restored the venerable firm's reputation as the world's premiere animate... [MORE]

8

Dumbo (1941)

Cast: Edward Brophy, Herman Bing, Verna Felton, Sterling Holloway, Cliff Edwards

Director: Sam Armstrong, Jack Kinney, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen

Writer: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer

Synopsis: The shortest of Disney's major animated features Dumbo involves a baby elephant with unusually large ears. Ostracized from the rest of the circus a... [MORE]

9

The Lion King (1994)

Director: Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers

Synopsis: One of the most popular Disney animated musicals, The Lion King presents the story of a lion cub's journey to adulthood and acceptance of his royal... [MORE]

10

Mulan (1998)

Director: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook

Synopsis: Inspired by a familiar Chinese folk tale, this $90 million animated Disney drama follows the adventures of a young woman in ancient China. Characte... [MORE]

11

Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Director: James Algar, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Hendel Butoy, Francis Glebas, Eric Goldberg, Don Hahn, Pixote Hunt

Synopsis: Initially released to IMAX theaters at the crescendo of millennial fever and 60 years after the original Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 was meant to revit... [MORE]

12

Cinderella (1950)

Cast: Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Claire DuBrey, James MacDonald, Luis Van Rooten

Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske

Synopsis: Cinderella was Walt Disney's return to feature-length "story" cartoons after eight years of turning out episodic pastiches like Make Mine Music and... [MORE]

13

Tarzan (1999)

Director: Chris Buck, Kevin Lima

Synopsis: Author Edgar Rice Burroughs once suggested that animation would be the ideal medium to bring his Tarzan to the screen, and 81 years after the first... [MORE]

14

Tangled (2010)

Cast: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor

Director: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Synopsis: The classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale gets a lavish CG makeover as directors Byron Howard and Nathan Greno team up to tell the tale of a fair-haire... [MORE]

15

Winnie the Pooh (2011)

Cast: Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson , John Cleese, Jack Boulter, Travis Oates

Director: Don Hall, Stephen J. Anderson

Synopsis: A.A. Milne's lovable bear returns to the big screen for the first time in 35 years in this animated adventure inspired by five of the author's most... [MORE]

16

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske

Synopsis: This Disney feature-length cartoon combines the most entertaining elements of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Ch... [MORE]

17

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Director: Jon Musker, Ron Clements, Dave Michener, Burny Mattinson

Synopsis: The first Disney animated feature to make extensive use of computer technology, The Great Mouse Detective was based on the children's novel Basil o... [MORE]

18

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Director: Les Clark, Clyde Geronimi, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman

Synopsis: Disney produced this lavish animated fairy tale, the most expensive cartoon ever made up to its release with a budget of $6 million. When the young... [MORE]

19

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Director: John Musker, Ron Clements

Synopsis: Set in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century, The Princess and the Frog concerns a poor African-American girl named Tiana who has a knac... [MORE]

20

Hercules (1997)

Director: John Musker, Ron Clements

Synopsis: Disney's animation team dipped into the rich well of ancient mythology for this musical comedy. The son of Greek gods Zeus (voice of Rip Torn) and ... [MORE]

21

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton S. Luske, Clyde Geronimi

Synopsis: This Disney animated classic is based on the children's story by Dodie Smith. The story involves the canine pets of a struggling composer and his w... [MORE]

22

The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

Director: Mark Dindal

Synopsis: A ruler learns how the other half lives -- the animal half, that is -- in this animated comedy-adventure from the Walt Disney Studios. Kuzco (voic... [MORE]

23

Bolt (2008)

Cast: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell

Director: Byron Howard, Chris Williams

Synopsis: From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes Bolt, the tale of a superstar TV pup (voiced by John Travolta) who gets plopped in the middle of America w... [MORE]

24

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Synopsis: After the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the Walt Disney Pictures animation studio... [MORE]

25

Peter Pan (1953)

Director: Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson

Synopsis: A pet project of Walt Disney's since 1939, this animated version of James M. Barrie's Peter Pan reached full fruition in 1953. Eschewing much of Ba... [MORE]

26

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Synopsis: A lonely little girl makes a very unusual friend -- a ukulele-playing alien who likes to toss around small automobiles -- in this antic animated co... [MORE]

27

Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Director: Stephen J. Anderson

Synopsis: An orphan who dreams of someday finding a family to call his own finds his fate taking an unexpected turn when a mysterious stranger named Wilbur R... [MORE]

28

Pocahontas (1995)

Director: Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg

Synopsis: History gets the Disney kiddie treatment and a politically correct interpretation in the studio's 33rd feature-length animated movie, the first to ... [MORE]

29

The Black Cauldron (1985)

Director: Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Synopsis: Walt Disney Pictures produced this ambitious, animated tale of sorcery and swordfighting. Taran (voice of Grant Bardsley), is an assistant to Dallb... [MORE]

30

Treasure Planet (2002)

Director: Ron Clements, John Musker

Writer: Robert Louis Stevenson

Synopsis: Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of adventure Treasure Island gets a science fiction update in this animated feature from Walt Disney Pictures... [MORE]

31

Dinosaur (2000)

Director: Eric Leighton, Ralph Zondag

Synopsis: Walt Disney Pictures redefined computer animation with this technically accomplished fantasy of prehistoric life, combining live-action backgrounds... [MORE]

32

The Aristocats (1970)

Cast: Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, Vito Scotti

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman

Synopsis: The Aristocats was the first Disney Studios animated feature to be produced after Walt Disney's death. A wealthy woman leaves her vast fortune to h... [MORE]

33

The Fox and the Hound (1981)

Director: Art Stevens, Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Synopsis: The Disney animated feature The Fox and the Hound tells the story of a friendship between traditional enemies. Tod is a fox whose parents have died... [MORE]

34

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Synopsis: The first Disney cartoon to be produced in the 70 mm format since The Black Cauldron (1985), this blend of traditional animation with computer-gene... [MORE]

35

The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman

Synopsis: 1963's The Sword in the Stone is Disney's animated take on Arthurian legend. In the midst of the Dark Ages, when England has no rightful ruler, a s... [MORE]

36

Pinocchio (1940)

Cast: Dick Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub

Director: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske

Synopsis: When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto (Christian Rub) builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The pu... [MORE]

37

Brother Bear (2003)

Director: Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker

Synopsis: In the Disney-animated adventure Brother Bear, Joaquin Phoenix provides the voice of Kenai, a young Native American boy whose brother, Sitka (voice... [MORE]

38

Home on the Range (2004)

Cast: Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench, Jennifer Tilly, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Randy Quaid

Director: Will Finn, John Sanford

Synopsis: Disney presents the animated musical Western Home on the Range, featuring an original musical score by Alan Menken. The Little Piece of Heaven fami... [MORE]

39

Chicken Little (2005)

Cast: Zach Braff, Steve Zahn, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, Adam West

Director: Mark Dindal

Synopsis: An old fable gets a high-tech update in this computer-animated comedy from Walt Disney Pictures. Chicken Little (voice of Zach Braff) is an earnest... [MORE]

40

Oliver & Company (1988)

Cast: Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Bette Midler, Dom DeLuise

Director: George Scribner

Synopsis: This animated musical retells Dickens's Oliver Twist amongst animals in New York City, with Oliver as an innocent kitten who joins a gang of law-br... [MORE]

41

Robin Hood (1973)

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman

Synopsis: Robin Hood is one of the first animated films produced by the Walt Disney Company after Walt Disney's death in 1967. For the film, the studio's ani... [MORE]