Summary

• Disney Animation Studios is regarded as the top animation studio with a satisfying catalog of movies.
• Some of Disney's early releases were weak and dated, but still had a fun and entertaining quality.
• The studio experienced box office failures, but rebounded with successful movies that paved the way for the Disney Renaissance.

Disney Animation Studios is widely regarded as the powerhouse of all animated studios, and the animated Disney movies ranked showcase how and why the studio is totally unrivaled in the world of animation. While the conglomerate also owns Pixar - yet another studio that's the gold standard of animation — Disney has amassed dozens of classics over a century. Though other studios outside of ones owned by Disney have had their successes too, Disney has consistently stayed at the top of the game ever since the studio's first feature animated film release, Snow White, in 1937.

Although Disney has had some not-so-great releases (and some box office bombs), the House of Mouse has mostly nailed the art of creating box office smash hits - particularly in recent years. Disney also has a very strong company brand and has been a major part of people's childhoods for generations, with movies like Snow White even being among the first color films. To date, Walt Disney Animation Studios has released over 50 full-length animated movies, and all the animated Disney movies ranked add up to a mostly satisfying catalog of movies with only a few major misfires.

63 Make Mine Music (1946)

Directed by Robert Cormack, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, and Josh Meador

Make Mine Music was the eighth animated Disney release and arrived in theaters in 1946. At this time, most of Disney's staff had been drafted by the U.S. government to make propaganda films to help the war effort. To keep the studio going during the war years, Disney released six package movies, and Make Mine Music was the third and weakest one. It features several animated vignettes, combined for one long musical tale.

62 Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

Directed by Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, William Morgan, and Bill Roberts

Another package movie, Fun and Fancy Free was released in 1947. It's a two-part movie; the first half is the tale of a baby bear named Bongo, and the second half is Mickey and the Beanstalk starring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. This was the last time Walt Disney himself voiced Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately, it wasn't a satisfying farewell and the movie's quality is expectedly weak for this era of Disney's animated productions.

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61 Saludos Amigos (1942)

Directed by Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, and Norman Ferguson

Another wartime package movie released in 1942, Saludos Amigos is set in Latin America and is made up of four different segments. Donald Duck and Goofy are the main stars. Although a fun classic, it is now very dated. Not even the fun Disney characters can hide the underlying bleak tone.

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60 Melody Time (1948)

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson

Melody Time arrived in 1948 and has often been touted as the popular music version of Fantasia. As America emerged from the war, movies became a valued source of entertainment, and Melody Time was fairly successful. It consists of seven segments set to popular and folk music. Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver the same kind of spectacle or excitement as Fantasia.

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59 The Three Caballeros (1944)

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Norman Ferguson, Bill Roberts, and Harold Young

The Three Caballeros was the first Disney movie to incorporate live-action with animation. The movie stars Donald Duck with a cigar-smoking parrot named Jose Carioca, who represents Brazil, and a pistol-shooting rooster named Panchito Pistoles, who represents Mexico. The 1944 release is extremely dated and Disney would never release such a film today, even if it was ambitious at the time and inspired movies that mix cartoon and live-action.

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58 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Directed by James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, and Jack Kinney

The last of Disney's wartime package movies, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is told in two parts. The first part is based on The Wind in the Willows, and the second part is based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The two halves were later marketed separately and released as separate entities on home video. The movie has garnered something of a cult following, but the 1949 release is still generally ranked fairly low when it comes to Disney movies in order.

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57 The Black Cauldron (1985)

Directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich

At the time of its release in 1985, The Black Cauldron was the most expensive animated movie ever made. The movie is a dark fantasy, following an evil horned king who tries to find an ancient black cauldron that will help him take over the world. It was a massive commercial failure and nearly led Disney to bankruptcy. As a result, The Black Cauldron didn't get a home video release until 1998. While The Black Cauldron was a huge misstep, the animation is at least dazzling.

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In 2016, Disney acquired the screen rights to The Chronicles of Prydain, which inspired The Black Cauldron, intending to make a live-action movie, but those plans remain in development purgatory.

56 The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Directed by Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, David Michener, and John Musker

The Great Mouse Detective followed The Black Cauldron in 1986 and, thankfully, proved a financial success for Disney. It is based on the book series "Basil of Baker Street," which in turn is based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The Great Mouse Detective convinced studio execs that Disney animation was still viable, and eventually led to the Disney Renaissance period.

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55 Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise

Based upon the work of Jules Verne, Atlantis: The Lost Empire became Disney's first science fiction movie and was released in 2001. The movie did not perform too well at the box office and was one of many Disney sci-fi failures, though it is considered a cult favorite by some. The movie is most notable for its unique visual style, based on the work of comic book artist Mike Mignola, who served as one of four production designers on the movie.

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54 Treasure Planet (2002)

Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker

Treasure Planet was released in 2002, and it was another commercial failure for Disney. Both Treasure Planet and Atlantis were released at a time when the public appetite was shifting from hand-drawn animation to CGI, and Treasure Planet combined both styles to produce a movie that audiences just didn't connect with. While Treasure Planet never scores highly on lists of animated Disney movies ranked, it has garnered a cult following of its own, with many believing it represents a brief era in high-quality hand-drawn animation cut too short thanks to the advent of CGI.

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53 Home On The Range (2004)

Directed by Will Finn and John Sanford

Home on the Range became the last hand-drawn 2D animated movie from Disney. The movie is wholly entertaining for very young children, but older kids and adults soon tire of the dull plot and poor visuals. The film is simply not up to the standards that are expected of Disney, and it was clear that even Disney had set their sights beyond hand-drawn animation and was desperate to move on. Home on the Range was a huge flop, pulling in just $104 million worldwide.

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52 The Rescuers (1977)

Directed by John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Art Stevens

Released in 1977, The Rescuers was originally shelved in 1962 due to its political overtones. It tells the story of two mice, Bernard and Bianca, who shadow the United Nations, helping abduction victims across the world. The Rescuers' success lead to it becoming the first Disney animated movie to get a sequel, and though the 1977 movie is entertaining enough, it's one of the rare instances of the sequel being better than its predecessor. The follow-up is ranked much higher in the Disney movies in order.

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51 Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Directed by James Algar, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Hendel Butoy, Francis Glebas, Eric Goldberg, Don Hahn, and Pixote Hunt

Fantasia 2000 is the sequel to the original Fantasia and was green-lit after the successful release of Fantasia on home video. It follows the same format as its predecessor; segments of animation set to music, and the segments are introduced by a range of celebrities including Steve Martin, Quincy Jones, and Angela Lansbury. It's a fun and easy-to-watch release from Disney, but it doesn't measure up to the original despite the star power.

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50 The Fox and the Hound (1981)

Directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich, Art Stevens, David Hand, and Wolfgang Reitherman

The Fox and the Hound tells the sweet tale of a red fox named Tod and a hunting hound named Copper, who become best friends despite society dictating that they should be sworn enemies. The movie itself is better for young kids and would be viewed as average by most adults, but it's still as cute as ever and has an important message. The Fox and the Hound was a financial success for Disney and led to a direct-to-video sequel being released in 2006.

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49 Robin Hood (1973)

Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and David Hand

An adaptation of the classic fairy tale, Robin Hood is far from a terrible movie, but it could have been so much better. The story lends itself to a Disney movie, and there are parts of it that Disney got spot on, such as the characterization of the Prince of Thieves. However, Robin Hood fell way behind schedule, leaving the animators having to reuse dance sequences from previous Disney movies in order to meet its November 1973 release.

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48 The Aristocats (1970)

Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman

The Aristocats had begun production in 1962 as a two-part live-action TV show. However, it eventually evolved into the 1970 movie, which was a box office success, partly due to its toe-tapping musical score. Though Disney had always been very musical when it came to its movies, the jangly and upbeat jazz music in The Aristocats was unlike anything else in the Disney catalog. The film is still unique in the dense catalog to this day, and a live-action Aristocats movie is in development.

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47 Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Directed by Stephen J. Anderson

Meet the Robinsons is a 2007 CGI animated movie, which was the first film released by Disney after John Lasseter became Chief Creative Officer. It's very loosely based on the children's book A Day With Wilbur Robinson. Like other movies toward the bottom half of the Disney movies in order, it's dull in places and could have been so much better, but also like those movies, it has a small but devoted fanbase.

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46 The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh (1977)

Directed by John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Ben Sharpsteen

Winnie The Pooh is one of Disney's biggest successes. Based on the stories of A.A. Milne, its characters have gone on to become some of Disney's most popular, really only second to Mickey and the gang. However, the original Winnie the Pooh movie, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, while cute, enjoyable, and fun, is made up of three previously released Disney featurettes, and its lack of originality is why it finds itself so far down when it comes to Disney movies ranked in order.

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45 Chicken Little (2005)

Directed by Mark Dindal

Chicken Little is the very first Disney movie to be released in 3D, but the premise isn't quite as original as its visuals. The 2005 movie is based on the original fable, and like its successor, Meet the Robinsons, it's entertaining enough, but it could have been a lot better. It didn't grab audiences, or keep parents engaged, in the way better-ranked Disney movies did.

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44 Dinosaur (2000)

Directed by Eric Leighton and Ralph Zondag

Dinosaur is an interesting mix of CG dinosaurs and live-action backgrounds that were filmed on location. At the time, any movie with dinosaurs was a guaranteed blockbuster, so it's unsurprising that Disney decided to make one of its own. However, the results are mixed, as the dinosaurs' faces oddly resembled human faces, and everything felt a little off. Nevertheless, it was still a huge box-office success.

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