Since its inception, the Disney+ original film library has swelled, making ranking each movie from worst to best no easy feat. Disney+ was first launched in November 2019, with the premium streaming service now hosting over 500 films available instantaneously with the purchase of a subscription model. Of these 500 films, Disney+ now has 16 original scripted movies released under its production umbrella, including the highly anticipated recent release of Home Sweet Home Alone in November 2021.
While Disney+ has also swelled its ranks (and popularity) by becoming the exclusive home of Marvel (and the MCU), Star Wars, and The Simpsons streaming at launch, Variety also reported in 2019 that Disney would spend up to $500 million in original content for the service. This massive Disney+ original movie budget push first materialized in the form of Soul, which was also the final Pixar and Disney+ crossover during the two studios' merger. All subsequent projects under the Pixar umbrella have defaulted as Disney+ original releases, with the likes of Luca pulling huge streaming numbers for the service.
For the sake of clarity, movies that were exclusively released on the platform, such as Mulan or Hamilton but not deliberately produced for Disney+, will not be considered here. The 16 qualifying Disney+ originals have certainly seen a mixed critical reception, despite all of their consistently high viewing numbers, with some Disney+ offerings failing to capture the magic of their Pixar and Walt Disney Studios predecessors. Here's every Disney+ original movie ranked from worst to best.
#16 - Secret Society Of Second-Born Royals
It is hard to imagine anyone at Disney+ getting too excited over the incredibly worn premise of Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, which follows a rebellious, superpowered princess who discovers she belongs to a secret society with a longstanding tradition of covertly keeping the peace throughout the fictional kingdom of Illyria. Secret Society contains every imaginable Disney cliché mixed with some bizarre teen-rebellion scenes that include Princess Sam (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) sneaking into a nightclub and shouting, "Down with the monarchy!" as she argues with her royal parents. Secret Society offers absolutely nothing original to the Disney+ roster, with even its younger audiences sure to notice how ineptly it rips off classic Marvel tropes and concepts.
#15 - Magic Camp
The build-up to Magic Camp's Disney+ summer 2020 release held rich promise after a string of casting coups for the Disney+ original. It is unfortunate, then, that even Workaholics' Adam DeVine, the prolific Jeffrey Tambor, and Community's Gillian Jacobs could not save this absolute shambles of a Disney+. original that fails to find the strength its misfit characters strive for. While Magic Camp's overarching message of self-love and acceptance is pure and just, a fuzzy premise alone cannot hold up the entire narrative of a film, which is the cardinal sin of poor writing at the heart of Magic Camp's many failures.
#14 - Home Sweet Home Alone
While always a tall order to repeat the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of the Macauley Culkin-led original, Home Sweet Home Alone is a stark reminder of how far the franchise has fallen from grace. Director Dan Mazer, famed for his slapstick work in the adult Sacha Baron Cohen comedies Borat and Da Ali-G Show, completely misses the mark here, imbuing Home Sweet Home Alone with a level of violence that is borderline unjustifiable in the context of its target audience. The film also leans far too heavily into the inter-family drama of the McKenzie house, detracting from the simplistic glee of children besting adults that the original Home Alone presents so well.
#13 - Godmothered
Godmothered initially brings a decidedly fresh approach to the classic concept of the Fairy Godmother, centering on Jillian Bell's hilarious attempts to hone her craft as the fledgling guardian of Isla Fisher's MacKenzie. As a viewing experience, Godmothered only truly falters towards the end of its 113-minute runtime, as the film slips back into familiar Cinderella tropes that end with a typically cliched true love. Godmothered is a palatable, fun family film, whose ending, unfortunately, undoes much of Bell and Fisher's hard work at introducing a new premise and world for the Disney+ service.
#12 - Black Beauty
Disney+'s Black Beauty suffers from an inability to pick a narrative tone, with the film's complex and emotive source material clearly looming large over the Black Beauty project. While Black Beauty successfully portrays the titular horse with dignity and admiration, it often veers into territory far too dark for its target child audience. Overt references to animal rights, abuse, and a pervading sense of dread mean the Black Beauty movie quickly becomes an exercise in tear-jerking, with the end product feeling decidedly un-Disney-like as the movie jumps between elation and despair with a weak horse-obsessed protagonist trying to keep up.
#11 - Safety
This inspired-by-a-true-story sports drama hits all the marks of a Disney+ original without ever threatening to become a classic or particularly celebrated straight-to-streaming movie. The real archival images of Ray McElrathbey playing football and appearing on Oprah are undoubtedly stirring, but the core of Safety is exactly as its name suggests. Safety's middle-of-the-road approach ensures it is a solid pick for family movie night but does not live long in the memory, even as it sensitively tackles issues of race and equality within the NCAA.
#10 - Noelle
Noelle is standard Christmas fare from Disney+, only slightly elevated by the irrepressible Anna Kendrick's performance as Noelle Kringle, Santa's daughter. The Kringle lineage is actually a refreshing take on the Saint Nicholas legend, with Noelle attempting to introduce some progressive themes surrounding a female Santa Claus. The problem is that Noelle does not fully run with these interesting concepts, spending far too much time on typical Christmas cheer-inducing scenes, which means Noelle ends up being a fun family film albeit with massive amounts of wasted potential.
#9 - Flora & Ulysses
Flora & Ulysses' inclusion on this list marks the start of Disney+'s genuinely strong original content, with this superhero-inspired family comedy checking all the right boxes. Flora & Ulysses (2021) centers on the youngest Buckman child and her superpowered, sentient pet squirrel, who refreshingly save the low-key setting of an animal sanctuary using their powers and teamwork. The film contains mid- and end-credit scenes reminiscent of Marvel's franchise setups, and Flora & Ulysses certainly leaves ample room for another entertaining sequel. Ardent Marvel fans will also note that, for now, Flora & Ulysses is about the closest audiences will come to see the much-vaunted IP Squirrel Girl, with the film itself giving several nods to popular comic book culture.
#8 - Lady and the Tramp
Disney+'s Lady and the Tramp was the first live-action original to champion their streaming service, with Charlie Bean's touching take on the 1955 animated classic certainly not a disappointing one. At its core, Lady and the Tramp 2019 fundamentally understands why audiences are streaming it, namely to see cute CGI dogs that evoke Disney-based nostalgia. In this regard, Lady and the Tramp is a qualified success that acts as a sound homage to the original movie without ever threatening to offer a new take on a timeless romance story.
#7 - Stargirl
Based on the Jerry Spinelli children's novel of the same name, Stargirl hits all the familiar beats of a coming-of-age story, while effectively utilizing the burgeoning talents of star-in-the-making Grace VanderWaal. Stargirl's narrative is decent enough, yet it is worth streaming if only to see VanderWaal before she inevitably becomes the rampant success critics assuredly predict in their Stargirl reviews. The music composition of Stargirl is another feather in the movie's cap and evokes memories of early High School Musical offerings that enraptured a generation of young viewers.
#6 - Luca
Few recent Disney+ original releases carry the same infectious joy as Luca does, with the animation accurately portraying the formative summer friendships that feel as if they can endure forever. Luca is certainly a deviation from the standard Pixar formula as the film darts between land and sea scenes, but this does not detract from the enjoyable narrative playing out on screen. As with Stargirl before it, Luca's original score is sensational, evoking Italian operatic powerhouses such as Gianni Morandi and Maria Callas.
#5 - Clouds
Clouds is a truly moving motion picture that aims to teach valuable lessons of humility and triumph in adversity to young adults. Justin Baldoni's Clouds features a sad premise about a young star stricken with terminal cancer could easily have turned into bleak territory, but the true story of Zach Sobiech belies this fear and delivers an uplifting and touching portrait of a teenager coming to terms with his own mortality. The book written by Sobiech's mother on this same topic is heavily referenced in Clouds, meaning the Disney+ original carries narrative weight no matter the age group of those watching it.
#4 - Soul
In the same way that Pixar's Toy Story first deftly approached the existential in 1995, Soul embarks on a similar journey of self-realization some 25 years later. The history-making Soul infuses the infectious nature of Jazz with beautiful notes of the ennui and emptiness of adulthood that translates into a wholly compelling look at making the most of one's life. While "The Great Before" and "The Great Beyond" are only thinly veiled monikers for heaven and purgatory that may go over younger audiences' heads, Soul is nevertheless a must-see for any household with a Disney+ subscription.
#3 - Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
Described by The Hollywood Reporter as "the best of Disney+'s original programs by a wide margin," Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made is a delightful take on never losing one's innate individuality in a world that celebrates conformity. The titular character of Timmy Failure in Mistakes Were Made undoubtedly resonates with a certain core of children everywhere who feel their uniqueness is unseen or uncelebrated, with Timmy facing many trials and tribulations both in his imaginary world and the real setting of Portland. At its core, Timmy Failure is a celebration of imagination whose special effects back up the idea that whole universes can be created by the firing of a synapse.
#2 - Togo
Ericson Core's classic underdog story represents the very best of Disney+'s original roster in a masterful film that combines gorgeous CGI with a perfectly placed cast. Willem Dafoe sheds his often cartoonish villain roles here for the decidedly touching Leonhard Seppala, whose true story of the 1925 serum run to Nome is immortalized today. Not only is Disney+'s Togo's true story historically accurate, but it is also a timeless tale well told in every possible way - a perfect storm of casting, direction, and vision.
#1 - Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe
The multigenerational appeal of Phineas and Ferb laid the foundation for the pair's triumphant return via Disney+, with the resulting Phineas and Ferb movie ticking every box. Phineas and Ferb the Movie contains positive messages about family, friendship, teamwork, courage, and valuing one's own worth that are overt yet never cloying in the context of the film. Scientific knowledge and innovation provide the usual doses of fun for the stepbrothers and their cohort in the latest Phineas and Ferb installment and champion the oft-lost commodity of reason and fact in contemporary culture. Disney+'s Phineas and Ferb is a delightful watch and a triumphant return to a beloved series that does the rare act of improving the franchise itself in a meaningful, permanent way.