What’s your favorite Disney movie? There are many to choose from, whether you're a fan of the classics, the animations, the live action, or even the newer remakes.Whether you classify yourself as a die hard fan with a Disney annual pass or you’ve never even visited one of their theme parks, I’m sure you’ve seen one of their movies at some point.
I grew up with a dresser full of old VHS Disney tapes that I treasured growing up. My love for Disney goes past all the princesses and falls more on the forgotten movies like “The Black Cauldron” and my all time favorite, “The Aristocats.”
Since 2016, Netflix has been the go to place to stream some of your Disney favorites. But all of that may be changing soon, with titles like “Bridge to Terabithia,” “The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story,” and many more already having been removed.
With Disney announcing their new streaming service “Disney+,” the fate of current Disney content on streaming services such as Netflix remains uncertain. It seems like all Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars content will only be available on “Disney+.”There is no current set date on when these titles will be leaving other streaming services, but it may be after the official launch of “Disney+.”“Captain Marvel,” along with future Disney theatrical releases like “Frozen 2,” will only be available to stream on “Disney+.”
We suggest planning a movie night sooner rather than later, to watch all the Disney movies currently on Netflix.“Disney+” is set to launch on November 12, 2019 and will be available for a $7 monthly payment or $70 for a year subscription. At those prices, it is sure to rival Netflix.Below I have listed ten of my favorite Disney movies still available on Netflix!
“Chicken Little”
Truly a classic from childhood, “Chicken Little” gives a new meaning to the story of the boy who cried wolf.
Released in 2005, this movie follows a small town character called Chicken Little, who throws his entire town into a panic claiming the sky is falling. A year later, Chicken Little is still trying to redeem himself from the fiasco and he joins the baseball team.
The night of a big baseball game, Chicken Little is again convinced the sky is falling and discovers a UFO. He must now convince his entire town that they are in danger and this time it’s not a false alarm.
“Coco”
This movie hit home for me. I am a Mexican American and seeing my culture represented on the big screen was huge. Especially at a time in my life where I had lost a family member and celebrating their life through the “Day of the Dead” had a whole new meaning.
“Coco” is a vibrant film that does an incredible job at showcasing just a small part of Mexican culture. With a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is described as “a thoughtful narrative that takes a family-friendly—and deeply affecting—approach to questions of culture, family, life, and death.”
Released in 2017 by Disney and produced by Pixar, “Coco” follows 12 year old Miguel Rivera.
Despite his family’s generations long ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming a musician. He idolizes Ernesto de la Cruz, a fictional character who is described as one of Mexico’s most famous musicians, who had a tragic death. In an unexplainable turn of events, Miguel is transported to the Land of the Dead where he meets his deceased ancestors. Clearly a living human boy, Miguel must find his way back home from the land of the dead. On his journey, he will unlock his family history and the reason behind the Rivera’s hatred for music.
“Coco” received positive reviews for its respectful portrayal of Mexican culture and was even chosen as the “Best Animated Film” of 2017 by the National Board of Review. The film also received many awards, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and a Critic’s Choice Movie Award.
“Meet the Robinsons”
Another one of my favorites, “Meet the Robinsons” blew my mind the first time I watched it as a kid, almost teenager. I remember crying watching the wholesome film that centered so much on family.
Despite being a children’s film, the movie has incredible depth, with a storyline focused on time travel. I love that the movie pushes kids to have an interest in science and engineering and its underlying message of “keep moving forward” inspires kids to get back up and try again after you fail.
The movie follows Lewis, a 12 year old orphan boy with a love for inventing gadgets. Unfortunately, his passion for building scares off couples looking to adopt him. The events of the film begin to take off when Lewis creates a memory scanner for his school’s science fair. Wanting nothing more than to locate his mother, who abandoned him as a baby, Lewis creates the memory scanner in hopes of remembering what his mom looked like.
On the way to the science fair, Lewis meets Wilbur Robinson, a mysterious boy who claims to be from the future. Wilbur promises to take Lewis to the past, to meet his mother, if he first helps him recover a stolen time machine from a villain called the “Bowler Hat Guy.”
When Lewis and Wilbur adventure into the future they accidently wreck the time machine. Wilbur must find a way to get Lewis back to his own time before his family realizes he is a boy from the past.
As Lewis begins to meet the rest of the Robinson family, the movie begins to be filled with more twists and turns and secrets about who Wilbur and his family really are will be revealed.
With the “Bowler Hat Guy” in possession of one of the time machines and eventually, Lewis’ memory scanner, it’s a race against the clock before the villain alters time and Lewis must step up to save the future, or the Robinson’s may cease to exist.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet”
A sequel to the 2012 film “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” was released in 2018 and takes place six years after the events of the original film.
Now best friends, Ralph and Vanellope must venture into the Internet via a Wi-Fi router to save her home and game, Sugar Rush. Inside the World Wide Web, the two must be helped by the netizens, citizens of the internet, to navigate the mysterious world and find the part that could save the Sugar Rush game.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” like the original film, has many popular culture cameo appearances. Which is to be expected with a movie released during our time where society cherishes the internet and social media. The amount of Disney characters, including the princesses, alone that are seen in the movie are hard to count.
My personal favorite was a scene where Vanellope is shown running into a man, who turns out to be Stan Lee, the infamous Marvel Comics writer, speaking with Iron Man.
“Incredibles 2”
I don’t think there has ever been a want for a movie sequel as much as there was for “Incredibles 2.”We all grew up wanting to be a part of “The Incredibles” family and have superpowers of our own. And let’s be honest, how many times have you recited Frozone’s infamous line: “Where’s my supersuit!?”
“Incredibles 2,” which was released in 2018 shows a switch in family dynamic. With Helen now in the spotlight, Bob stays at home with the three kids, doing his best to adjust to “normal” life. When a new villain comes into the picture, the family must once again work together to defeat the evil character, which is easier said than done with hidden tensions coming to the surface.
Oh, and let’s not forget everyone's favorite superhero, Frozone! Yeah, he helps, again!
“Bedtime Stories”
In what could literally be anyone’s dream, “Bedtime Stories” is a live action fantasy movie where innocent bedtime stories begin to come to life in the real world.
Released in 2008 and starring Adam Sandler, the film follows Skeeter Bronson, a hotel maintenance man who has had a love for hospitality since a young age. When Skeeter is asked to watch his niece and nephew for a few days, he finds himself coming up with intricate and whimsical bedtime stories for them.
To his surprise, the outlandish stories begin coming true and impacting his real life. With twists and turns, this film proves to be just what a family needs for a fun-filled movie night.
“Race to Witch Mountain”
Released in 2009, “Race to Witch Mountain” stars Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, and Alexander Ludwig.
Johnson stars as Jack Bruno, a Las Vegas taxi driver who is caught up in a race against time, government agents, and an alien bounty hunter.
When he meets young Sara and Seth, he finds out the two are aliens and chooses to help them get to Witch Mountain, the location of their hidden spaceship in order to save Earth from an extraterrestrial invasion.
“Race to Witch Mountain” is a live-action remake of the 1975 Disney live-action movie “Escape to Witch Mountain.”
“Mary Poppins Returns”
A sequel to the 1964 film “Mary Poppins,” “Mary Poppins Returns” stars Emily Blunt as the beloved and whimsical character of Mary Poppins.
The sequel is set in 1930s depression-era London, where adult Michael Banks lives in his childhood home with his three children and his sister Jane, having lost his wife a year earlier.
To Michael and Jane’s surprise, their childhood nanny, an unaged Mary Poppins revisits them claiming she is back to look after the Banks children, the same reason for visiting them when they were children.
As the family reels through a difficult time, Mary Poppins helps the family, especially the children, rediscover joy in their lives through her magic-filled adventures. Michael, having forgotten what it’s like to be a child blames Poppins for filling his children's heads with “stuff and nonsense” while he struggles to pay off a loan to the bank that threatens to repossess his family home.
This time, Mary Poppins has some help from new characters like Jack, a lamplighter, and Topsy, Poppins eccentric cousin. With a star studded cast, Jack is portrayed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Topsy by Meryl Streep.
“Mary Poppins Returns” reminds us all that “anything is possible.”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
On the topic of Mary Poppins, the original 1964 movie almost never happened.
In 2013, Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks starred in the period comedy drama “Saving Mr. Banks.” The film is centered around the two weeks of business meetings spent in Los Angeles, California where the author of the Mary Poppins stories, Pamela “P.L.” Travers met with Walt Disney to discuss the film rights to her novels.
According to Walt Disney Pictures, the business move to gain the movie rights to Mary Poppins all began when Walt Disney’s daughters begged their father to make a movie of their favorite books, which happened to be the Mary Poppins series, written by P.L. Travers. Walt Disney made a promise to his daughters, not knowing it would take 20 years to complete the promise.
P.L. Travers had no intention of her books becoming films, as she didn’t want her stories tarnished by Hollywood. But overtime, as her books stopped selling and money grew short, Travers reluctantly met with Walt Disney in 1961 to discuss selling the film rights.
The film title “Saving Mr. Banks” derives from the name of the father of the family in the books.
The movie received positive reviews from critics and holds a 79 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes where it is described as “Aggressively likable and sentimental to a fault, “Saving Mr. Banks” pays tribute to the Disney legacy with excellent performances and sweet, high-spirited charm.”
“Christopher Robin”
Winnie the Pooh was literally my favorite Disney character growing up. I even, proudly, own a collectors edition of short stories based around Pooh and his adventures.
“Christopher Robin” is a live action adaptation released in 2018 that follows the story of Christopher Robin, the boy now a man who must be reminded of how life should always be whimsical and that having a childlike attitude should never be lost.
Pooh and his lovable friends, Tigger, Euyore, and Piglet must venture out of the Hundred Acre Wood and into London to help Christoher Robin in his time of need.
Disney Movies Through the Years
Though Disney has had success with both their animated films and live-action films, over the recent years they have begun to remake their animated films into live action. Examples being “Dumbo” and “Aladdin.”
With no plans to slow down on remakes, some of the live-action adaptations to look forward to include: “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Mulan,” and “The Little Mermaid.” And of course, “The Lion King” which recently hit theaters.
The Walt Disney Company continues to lead the world of entertainment. From its movies and shorts to its theme parks and resorts that have expanded worldwide. With a mission to provide fun for the whole family, Disney has gone above and beyond to spread joy and positivity across generations.
Despite the upcoming release of the “Disney+” streaming service, there is still time to catch up on the Disney titles still available on Netflix, but I wouldn’t wait too long for a marathon!