The Definitive Countdown of the Animated Disney Canon

New and improved listing!!!

I tend to drop the term Disney Film and then clarify that I mean the canon when speaking about movies in general. I forget that not everyone I know has the canon memorized or even knows what it means... From TV tropes: "The animated feature films produced by Disney's main feature animation studio, currently known as Walt Disney Animation Studios... does not include Pixar productions, nor does it include every animated feature released by Disney (such as those created by DisneyToon Studios, Direct-to-Video Sequels, Studio Ghibli dubs, animated films made under a different Disney banner such as The Nightmare Before Christmas or animated films distributed by Disney but produced by non-Disney studios)."

* - I own a copy

Green - Masterpiece to be digested and explored intellectually.
Blue - Good for a fun night.
Yellow - Okay, but if I never saw again I would not be sad.
Red - Don't much care for (or despise in certain cases).


  1. The Lion King *
  2. Aladdin *
  3. Mulan *
  4. Pocahontas* - this particular movie comes with too much historical context to recommend wholesale, if you can completely disjoint it from history and watch as a low fantasy flick then I consider it enjoyable. A fair amount of nostalgia and straight up appreciation for the art of the film still exists for me.
  5. Beauty and the Beast *
  6. 101 Dalmatians *
  7. The Hunchback of Notre Dame *
  8. Encanto *
  9. Moana*
  10. The Jungle Book *
  11. The Rescuers Down Under *
  12. Brother Bear *
  13. Treasure Planet *
  14. The Great Mouse Detective *
  15. Tarzan *
  16. Zootopia*
  17. The Emperor's New Groove *
  18. The Sword in the Stone *
  19. Oliver & Company *
  20. Hercules*
  21. Lilo and Stitch *
  22. Robin Hood *
  23. Frozen II *
  24. Frozen *
  25. Tangled *
  26. Atlantis: The Lost Empire *
  27. The Princess and the Frog *
  28. Fantasia*
  29. Fantasia 2000*
  30. The Fox and the Hound *
  31. Big Hero 6 *
  32. The Aristocats *
  33. The Rescuers *
  34. Bolt
  35. The Little Mermaid *
  36. Cinderella
  37. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh*
  38. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad *
  39. Lady and the Tramp *
  40. Bambi
  41. Wish
  42. Pinocchio
  43. Wreck-It Ralph *
  44. The Three Caballeros*
  45. Fun and Fancy Free
  46. Sleeping Beauty *
  47. Dumbo *
  48. Peter Pan *
  49. Meet the Robinsons
  50. Raya and the Last Dragon
  51. Ralph Breaks the Internet
  52. Home on the Range
  53. Chicken Little
  54. Saludos Amigos*
  55. Make Mine Music
  56. Snow White
  57. Dinosaur
  58. Strange World
  59. Alice in Wonderland *
  60. Winnie the Pooh (2011) *
  61. Melody Time
  62. The Black Cauldron

3 comments:

  1. Canon and all put aside, my shortlist of favorite animated films include:
    1 The Little Mermaid
    2 Frozen
    3 Tangled
    4 Beauty and the Beast
    5 Mulan
    6.The Lion King
    ...and my favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon has and always will be Johnny Quest!

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  2. I don't dislike anything on your list of masterpieces, but most don't rate as high as you have them. My rater is not necessarily intellectual, but how they make me feel. I love Tangled and believe it might be moving my #1 Little Mermaid out of the top spot and down to #3 on my favorite's list. Frozen will remain at 2. In Tangled and Frozen, I love the male characters, Flynn and Kristoff. I like that they have stories of their own that aren't full of angst. And, as I've spouted time and time again, I love the horse in Tangled; I could watch that movie over and over just for the horse. The caribou in Frozen is almost as wonderful (but not quite). I do love how he is Kristoff's wingman. From your top masterpieces, I'd likely have to slide The Rescuers Down Under and Treasure Island down the list.

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  3. Make Mine Music was an interesting watch...I like that you are stretching my self-made boundaries.

    ReplyDelete