Do you want to know which are the best Disney movies? Then look no further, this article covers everything, right from the classic short films of Mickey’s Steamboat Willie to the latest Disney-Pixar 3D movies.
Before we look at the Disney movies, here is some technical information (which many of you may already know). Below are the top 5 selected Disney movies from 4 categories – 2D short films, 2D full-length films, live action films and 3D animation films. The difference between the 4 categories are that 2D short films are mostly the ones that last for around 5 minutes, the second category which are 2D full-feature films last mostly for a duration of 1½ hours. The difference between 2D, 3D and live action is that 2D is the type of animation technique where Disney used the cell animation technique, which means they draw drawings for each frames. These frames when played together give the animation-motion effect, like a flip-book. Live action is the normal shooting technique, using actors and actress, like we use our handycams to record videos. 3D is the type of animation medium, where mostly everything is done with a computer, where 3 dimensional models of movie characters are generated, and they are given motion using complex software. Well, this was a bit of technical information.
5 Best 2D Disney Short Films List
I would like to make honorable mentions of some other Disney shorts before the 5 best short Disney Movies. These are The Olympic Champ, The Skeleton Dance , Der Fuehrer’s Face, How to Be a Sailor, Tommy Tuckers Tooth and Chicken In The Rough.
Steamboat Willie (1928)
What’s So Great About It?
This is Walt Disney’s first animated film, which had synchronized sound recording. It is also the first Mickey Mouse film which was released. Everybody should watch this film (though many of you must have already seen it). This film is about Mickey Mouse trying to please Minnie after a goat eats her music, he cranks the tail of goat and turns it into a record player. It is an awesome gag, and after watching the difference between the first and the later Mickey Mouse shorts, you can see the noticeable difference in the shape of Mickey.
The Old Mill (1931)
What’s So Great About It?
This short has won two Academy Awards, and one Venice Film Festival award. This is another beautiful Disney short, where you can see great storytelling, a group of different characters beautifully animated with great music. This short is about the inhabitants of an old and abandoned mill, who are preparing for the nightfall and a coming storm.
No Smoking (1951)
What’s So Great About It?
This is one of the most funny Goofy gags. In this short, Goofy is shown as a big nicotine addict, he keeps smoking all the time, when he is at work, while sleeping, waking, etc. But, then he decides he wants to quit, which is very difficult and smoking seems even more tempting to him. Anybody who smokes or wants to quit, will definitely relate to this 6 minute short.
Let’s Stick Together (1952)
What’s So Great About It?
This is my favorite Disney short among the list of Disney movies, because it concludes about how never to ignore or mistreat your friends, even when you are in love with somebody, all displayed in a very humorous way. In this short, Donald duck befriends a bee called Spike. Due to Spike’s amazing talent, they start a huge successful business. However, the business collapses when Spike falls in love with a bee girl. This leads to fights between Spike and Donald, and eventually the end of their friendship and business partnership. After many years, you see that Spike and Donald have grown old, Spike’s wife keep is nagging him and throwing utensils at him, when he sees ol’ Donald and then being bugged by his wife, Spike and Donald become friends again, ignore the bee who is now an old woman and start walking together like they used to in their good old days.
Runaway Brain (1995)
What’s So Great About It?
The greatest thing about this short, is to see how the cute Mickey turns into an evil and nasty looking one. This short was nominated for an Academy Award. In this short, Mickey doesn’t get an anniversary present for Minnie, but to convince her that he didn’t forget their anniversary he promises Minne that he will take her to Hawaii. To raise some funds he gets a job as a lab assistant for Dr. Frankenollie, where his mind gets switched with the Doc’s monster.
5 Best 2D Disney Feature Films List
Famous for Disney storytelling, these are the best Disney movies for kids. It was very difficult to narrow down the selection of these movies to the best 5 list. Some other great 2D animated films are Dumbo, Mulan, The Jungle Book and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Pinocchio (1940)
What’s So Great About It?
This movie will make you cry, no seriously, it will! Everybody knows the story of Pinocchio, but when Disney tells it, it’s totally different. This movie won many awards, and 2 among them are Oscars. So, do I still need to mention the storyline? Well, in the movie Gepetto creates a puppet and names it Pinocchio. He wants Pinocchio to be a real boy, and a fairy grants him this wish. Jiminy Cricket acts as Pinocchio’s conscience and guide, and tries to keep him away from trouble, but Pinocchio get into many troubles and in one incident almost gets turned into a jackass.
Fantasia (1940)
What’s So Great About It?
This movie is visually stunning, and is accompanied by an equally beautiful music score. However, patience is required while watching the whole film. This 1½ hour film, is actually a collection of some of the Western classical music masterpieces with 8 animation sequences. You might get a bit bored while watching some of the animation sequences, but if you watch with patience and interest you will thoroughly enjoy the whole film. The two best animation sequences among the 8 are The Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Mickey and Rite of Spring.
Aladdin (1992)
What’s So Great About It?
An Arabian story told by Disney, is what makes this movie so unique… With of course the magical characters and other interesting characters like Abu, Jasmine, Iago, and not to forget the annoying Genie (yes, I find the character of Genie to be very annoying!). This movie has won around 22 awards, among which 2 are Oscars. In this film, Aladdin who is a street urchin falls in love with the princess Jasmine, but she can only marry a prince and this is the time when he gets the magic lamp and the Genie, and gets his wish to become a prince so that he can be with Jasmine. The TV series and video games are equally great, so watch it.
The Lion King (1994)
What’s So Great About It?
This movie has brilliant characters, be it the monkey with a bright blue butt named Rafiki or the duo of Timon and Pumbaa, and the cute cub Simba who becomes a handsome lion when he grows up. The movie won 2 Oscars, and tells a story about a little lion prince in Africa, who is tricked by his uncle Scar (villain) into believing that he killed his father (the king); so that Scar who is second in line to the throne, gets to be the king. Simba, feeling guilty runs away and lives a carefree life with Timon and Pumbaa (remember the song, Hakuna Matata which means no worries). But, later on Simba learns the truth about his father’s death, and returns to reclaim the kingdom, which rightfully belongs to him!
The Little Mermaid (1989)
What’s So Great About It?
Based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, this movie beautifully re-tells the story. This is another Disney flick which won Oscars. Recently, in the year 2008 there was another little mermaid movie, which is better known as Ariel’s Beginning. But, the 1989 film of the little mermaid is better, and is about how Ariel falls for a human prince, and transforms into a human with the help of the evil Ursula. If you are a fan of Ariel, then you can watch the other films and the TV series too.
5 Best Live Action Disney Movies List
There are many great live action Disney movies, however the best 5 in the list are the ‘best 5’, because you can watch them over and over again, and still enjoy them.
Mary Poppins (1964)
What’s So Great About It?
This movie won 5 Oscars! Julie Andrews plays the role of a magical nanny, who works for a cold banker’s unhappy family, but this super nanny has magical powers like flying. She teaches the family how to enjoy life, and makes them happy. If you liked this movie, then you might also be interested in watching another great classic musical starring Julie Andrews, The Sound of Music and Nanny McPhee starring Emma Thompson.
Flubber (1997)
What’s So Great About It?
There are some scenes in this movie, where you will laugh your brains out! This is a remake of the 1961 film The Absent-Minded Professor, but is far more entertaining. The movie stars Robbin Williams, who is the absent-minded professor but a great innovator, he is so absent-minded that he forgets his own wedding, not once but twice. But when the wedding is scheduled for the third time, he accidentally creates Flubber which is a green jelly like character, that can change shapes and has a rubbery-elasticity which surpasses all the rubbery-elastic things on Earth. The wedding is off, and his girlfriend breaks up with him. So, watch the movie to know how the professor with the help of Flubber and Weebo, wins back his girlfriend.
Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
What’s So Great About It?
Watching this movie you will feel like you are yourself on an adventure. Starring Jackie Chan as Passepartout who works as an assistant for Phileas Fogg (an eccentric inventor) played by Steeve Coogan. The other stars in this movie are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Owen & Luke Wilson, Rob Schneider and many more. The movie is about Phileas Fogg, who takes up the challenge of traveling the world around in 80 days. The movie becomes more interesting as the journey starts. A must watch for fans of Jackie Chan, and Disney lovers.
Enchanted (2007)
What’s So Great About It?
This is a very unique film, and a refreshing change after watching the same ol’ Disney style movies. This movie is hilarious, cute, romantic and one of the best musical Disney movies of all time. This movie is actually part live action and part CG (computer graphics). It starts with a 2D animation of a girl (Giselle, voiced and played by Amy Adams) who is looking for her prince charming (played by James Marsden, remember the X-men cyclops guy), and when she finds him, they fall in love blah, blah, blah… But! The story takes a turn when on the day of their wedding, Giselle ends up on a modern-day New York street, where she faces real life troubles, but she still keeps thinking everything is a fairy tale. However, everything ends happily after all… So, watch it!
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
What’s So Great About It?
Not only the Curse of the Black Pearl, but also the other films of the Pirates of the Caribbean series are equally entertaining. Starring Johnny Depp, as Captain Jack Sparrow, these adventure movies have a brilliant storyline, awesome and vivid characters and great visual effects. Also, the music score is brilliant by Hans Zimmer, and just listening to it without the video will give you a feel of these movies. The fourth part of this series called On Stranger Tides, is scheduled to be released in May 2011 at movie theaters in USA.
5 Best 3D Disney Movies List
Why did Disney stop making 2D animated full feature films? That is something I will never understand! The 3D Disney films, in my opinion are a little less fascinating than the 2D ones. But, anyway here are the best 5 Disney Movies in 3D.
Finding Nemo (2003)
What’s So Great About It?
The first time I watched this movie, I didn’t like it very much. But, after watching this movie for the second time, I really adored it. Nemo is the son of Marlin (Clownfish) and the father and son share a deep bond, as they are the only family to each other. One day, Nemo is taken away by a diver, and then Marlin sets off on a journey to get his son back. On this rescue mission, he meets Dory who is a blue tang who suffers from short-term memory loss (yes, we are talking about fish disorders here). Watch this Disney-Pixar movie to see all the dangers the father goes through, and how in the end things are happy, as the family reunites.
Ratatouille (2007)
What’s So Great About It?
This Oscar winning movie, by Disney-Pixar is absolutely brilliant and funny. It is about a rat called Remy who has this big dream about being a great French chef, in spite of his family’s insistence that he is a rat and can’t enter a human’s profession. But, Remy by hiding inside the hat of Linguini, becomes a chef, doing what he likes the most – cooking!
Bolt (2008)
What’s So Great About It?
This is another unique storytelling exercise by Disney, which is about a dog name Bolt (voiced by John Travolta). You see, the problem with Bolt is that he thinks he is a super hero, but he is actually a dog actor who plays the role of a super hero with another girl actress called Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus). Bolt is very attached to Penny, but one day Bolt gets separated by the studio, and then he faces some problems as his imaginary super powers don’t seem to be working in real life. He meets a female cat called Mittens, they hate each other for a while but become friends later. Mittens makes him realize, that he is just an actor and not a super hero. Bolt misses Penny terribly and sets out on a journey to reunite with her.
Wall-E (2008)
What’s So Great About It?
There are scenes in this movie that will make you cry for the machines, and feel a bit disgusted by humans. This Oscar-winning Disney-Pixar flick, tells a love story between two robots Wall-E and Eva. There aren’t much dialogs between both, but the animation expresses all the emotions which transpire between these lovers very nicely. The movie takes place in a place far far away in the future, where humans have left the Earth as it has become nothing but a garbage pile, being cleaned by Wall-E(s). A must watch for people of all ages.
Up (2009)
What’s So Great About It?
This is another unique and entertaining film by Disney-Pixar, which is kind of sad love story. The movie is about a 78-year-old man called Carl Fredricksen, who goes UP! But, he does this by uplifting his house using a gazillion air balloons, to fulfill his and his late wife’s lifelong dream to see the wilderness of South Africa. New characters join Carl in his journey, one is Russell who is an eight year old boy who is trying to help Carl because he wants to get a badge for helping the elderly, a dog who can talk and a rare colorful bird named Kevin. But this bird is chased by the villain who wants to capture Kevin; so Carl, the boy and the dog fight the villain and his evil army of dogs to protect the bird.
I hope you agree with the selection of the above best Disney movies, listed by me. Watch those movies listed movies that you haven’t seen yet, and you will know for yourself what’s so great about them. Some more brilliant Disney movies are to be released this year which are a must see. First one is, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with the famous Hollywood trio of Johnny Depp, Tim Burton and Danny Elfmann, which is set to be released in March. The second one is ‘Prince of Persia’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal which looks brilliant too, and is coming out in May.
