The Walt Disney Animation Studios theatrically released feature films ranked (Updated for Disney 100)

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Compiling any list of Disney’s theatrically released animated feature films is not a straight forward process and different versions with have their own provisos. Before we proceed then, here are mine.

Firstly and perhaps obviously I’m not including movies from any subsidiary companies. I am just looking at the work of Walt Disney Animation Studios. So there’s nothing here from Pixar or the more recently acquired 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios. I’m also not putting anything in from Disneytoon Studios who released The Tigger Movie, Piglet’s Big Movie and Pooh’s Heffalump Movie. Interestingly I’m leaving out 1977’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh as well as it comprised of three previously released animated featurettes from 66, 68 and 74 with a little bit of extra material linking them together. There will still be a small amount of Pooh on this list though.

The new Lion King film isn’t here either as even though it is a fully animated movie, it was made by Walt Disney Pictures, not its main animation wing.

Also missing will be the five musical compilation films made in the 1940s; Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Music Mine, Fun and Fancy Free and Melody Time. They miss out partly because they do not tell feature length stories, but mostly because I haven’t seen all them which is why the two Fantasia movies are here even though they fit the same description.

Finally, it should be noted that there are some of these films that I have not seen since their original release, so something like The Black Cauldron for example, is placed on the basis of the remembered opinion of an eight year old boy rather than the deeply considered ruminations of a grown adult. Still, there are any number of aspects of my life heavily influenced by the sentiments of that same eight year old kid, including most of my feelings about Star Wars, so I’m going with it.

Off we go then, from 55 down to 1, here are all of the Walt Disney Animation Studios theatrically released feature films, including the brand new movie Wish – designed to mark the 100th anniversary of the Disney company, ranked in order of my personal preference:

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55. Home on the Range

54. Winnie the Pooh

53. Snow White

52. Dumbo

51. Pinocchio

50. The Fox & the Hound

49. Bolt

48. Oliver & Company

47. Brother Bear

46. Meet the Robinsons

45. Ichabod & Mr. Toad

44. Atlantis: The Lost Empire

43. Strange World

42. Chicken Little

41. Wreck it Ralph

40. The Rescuers Down Under

39. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

38. Fantasia 2000

37. Ralph Breaks the Internet

36. Fantasia

35. Bambi

34. The Black Cauldron

33. Pocahontas

32. The Emperor’s New Groove

31. Basil The Great Mouse Detective

30. Lady & the Tramp

29. Alice in Wonderland

28. Cinderella

27. Peter Pan

26. Tarzan

25. Wish

24. Raya and the Last Dragon

23. Big Hero Six

22. Sleeping Beauty

21. The Sword in the Stone

20. Encanto

19. Robin Hood

18. Hercules

17. Aladdin

16. Lilo & Stitch

15. The Rescuers

14. The Princess & the Frog

13. Treasure Planet

12. Beauty & the Beast

11. Frozen II

10. Zootropolis

9. 101 Dalmatians

8. Mulan

7. Tangled

6. The Aristocats

5. Frozen

4. Moana

3. The Lion King

2. The Little Mermaid

1. The Jungle Book

6 thoughts on “The Walt Disney Animation Studios theatrically released feature films ranked (Updated for Disney 100)

      1. I know it is unfair to judge films for not ageing well (in my opinion) but I feel that there are movies like The Aristocats and The Rescuers that that still totally stand up in a way some of those earlier ones don’t.

  1. Your list does not look at all what my list would look like. But that’s why I enjoy reading lists like this, to see how our opinions are similar or differ. Disney has a big and varied catalog that there are going to be differences between viewers. I’m impressed The Jungle Book nabs your number one spot.

    1. Thanks, I’ve had some comments about some of the classics being quite near the bottom of the list but even something like Aladdin doesn’t quite sit with modern sensibilities. I really like a lot of the newer films and the studios is definitely in another strong period. Nothing beats Jungle Book though.

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