Disney Animated Movies Tier List: All 38 Ranked
From "Snow White" in 1937 to whatever Zootopia is cooking up next, Disney's animated canon is almost 90 years deep. We ranked all 38 official animated features, the Golden Age classics, the Renaissance hits, the 2000s rough patch, and the modern era, based on how fans and critics actually talk about them today.
This isn't just nostalgia grading. Some beloved childhood movies land lower than you'd expect, and some underrated ones get their due. Disagree? Good, that's what the comments are for.
The tier list
The community’s tier list fills in as members vote. It appears once 5 members have ranked or voted on these (1 so far).
Think you can rank them better?
Make your own tier listFree account. Your ranking stays private unless you share it, and it counts toward the community tier list.Vote
SS Tier: The all-timers
The Lion King
Opens with a sunrise and a Zulu chant and somehow only gets bigger from there. Scar is one of the best villains Disney ever drew, and 'Hakuna Matata' is doing comedic and emotional work at the same time.
Beauty and the Beast
The first animated film to get a Best Picture nomination, and it earned it. The ballroom scene still makes the hair on your arms stand up, and Belle actually wants something beyond the castle walls.
Aladdin
Robin Williams as the Genie is still the gold standard for animated sidekicks, riffing so fast the animators had trouble keeping up. Agrabah looks gorgeous and 'A Whole New World' earned its Oscar.
Pinocchio
Only the second Disney feature and arguably still the best-animated one on a technical level. Pleasure Island and the whale chase are genuinely terrifying in the best way.
Moana
Lin-Manuel Miranda songs, a grandmother who turns into a stingray, and a demigod voiced by Dwayne Johnson who somehow doesn't steal the show from the girl who actually drives the boat. 'How Far I'll Go' is the modern 'Part of Your World'.
AA Tier: Genuine classics
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The one that started it all in 1937. It's simple by modern standards, but the Queen's transformation scene still holds up and Grumpy remains the only dwarf anyone can name on command.
The Little Mermaid
The movie that saved Disney animation, full stop. Ursula is a drag-queen fever dream of a villain and 'Under the Sea' is still the best use of calypso in an animated musical.
The Jungle Book
Baloo and Mowgli's friendship carries the whole thing, and 'I Wan'na Be Like You' with King Louie is one of the most purely fun musical numbers Disney ever made. Last film Walt personally supervised before he passed.
Lady and the Tramp
That spaghetti kiss is one of the most referenced scenes in animation history for a reason. Tramp's a rogue, Lady's sheltered, and the whole thing is sweeter than it sounds on paper.
Fantasia
No dialogue, no plot, just classical music paired with animation experiments that still look wild decades later. The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment with Mickey is basically its own short film and it's the best thing in the movie.
Mulan
'Reflection' and 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' are both bangers, and Mulan actually earns her victory through strategy, not a last-minute power-up. Mushu is divisive but the training montage alone justifies the movie.
Tangled
The movie that proved Disney Princesses could survive CG animation. Flynn Rider and Rapunzel have real chemistry, and the floating lantern scene is one of the most beautiful shots in the whole catalog.
Zootopia
A buddy-cop movie that's also a genuinely sharp commentary on prejudice, wrapped in a world where a sloth working at the DMV is the funniest scene in a Disney movie this century.
Lilo & Stitch
Weird, heartfelt, and nothing like the rest of the catalog. 'Ohana means family' shouldn't work as well as it does, but Lilo and Stitch's bond makes it land every time.
Frozen
'Let It Go' was inescapable for a reason, and the twist that true love's kiss comes from sisters instead of a prince genuinely reshaped how Disney writes its princess stories afterward.
BB Tier: Solidly good
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Cruella de Vil is a top-tier villain with a top-tier name, and the xerox animation technique let Disney put 99 spotted puppies onscreen without bankrupting the studio.
Cinderella
The mice are doing more character work than the humans half the time. It saved the studio financially in 1950, but the story itself is thinner than the gown Cinderella wears to the ball.
Sleeping Beauty
Maleficent is one of the best villain designs Disney ever produced, all angles and green fire. Aurora herself barely has lines, which is the movie's biggest flaw.
The Aristocats
Low stakes, jazzy soundtrack, and a cat named Thomas O'Malley who's basically a con-artist with a heart of gold. Pleasant rather than memorable, but 'Everybody Wants to Be a Cat' slaps.
Robin Hood
Animals as medieval English folk heroes, built largely on recycled animation from earlier films. Still, a fox-voiced Robin Hood with a Southern drawl has more charm than it has any right to.
Hercules
The Muses narrating in gospel style is a genuinely clever framing device, and Hades is one of James Woods' best vocal performances. Loses points for sanding down Greek mythology into something family-safe.
Wreck-It Ralph
A love letter to arcade culture that holds up even if you've never touched a joystick. Vanellope's glitchy sarcasm carries most of the laughs and the Sugar Rush world is a genuine visual treat.
Big Hero 6
Baymax is one of the most huggable characters Disney has designed, inflatable vinyl and all. The emotional gut-punch in the first act is sharper than most people remember going in.
The Princess and the Frog
A return to hand-drawn animation with a jazz-soaked New Orleans setting that deserved more credit than it got. Dr. Facilier is a genuinely unsettling villain with some of the best visual design of the era.
Peter Pan
Neverland looks fantastic and Captain Hook's rivalry with the crocodile is comic gold. Some of the depictions of Native Americans have aged very badly, which drags it down.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Surprisingly dark for a Disney musical, dealing with lust, bigotry and mob violence head-on. 'Hellfire' is one of the most intense sequences Disney ever greenlit for a kids' movie.
The Emperor's New Groove
Underrated at release, beloved now, mostly because Kronk and Yzma are two of the funniest characters Disney's ever written. It knows it's a comedy first and doesn't pretend otherwise.
CC Tier: Flawed but worth a watch
Alice in Wonderland
Gorgeous, trippy visuals in search of an actual plot. It's more a series of surreal vignettes than a story, which is true to the book but makes for an uneven watch.
Dumbo
Short, sweet, and the 'Pink Elephants on Parade' sequence is a fever dream that's stuck with generations of kids. The crow characters are a product of their era in an uncomfortable way.
Pocahontas
'Colors of the Wind' is a genuinely beautiful song, and that's doing a lot of heavy lifting for a movie that flattens real history and real people into a simple romance. Fans are split on this one, we lean toward it being overrated.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
A genuinely cool sci-fi swing for Disney with a distinctive art style, but the back half turns into generic action and the story never quite earns its ambition.
Tarzan
Phil Collins songs and some genuinely inventive 'surf' style animation for swinging through trees. Jane's comic relief works better than most of the rest of the cast.
Encanto
'We Don't Talk About Bruno' turned into a genuine cultural moment, but the movie around it is oddly structured and the family drama resolves faster than it should given how much time it spends building tension.
Bambi
Beautifully painted backgrounds and one scene everyone remembers for reasons that still sting decades later. Beyond that one gut-punch, the pacing is slow even by 1940s standards.
Frozen II
Visually stunning, especially the water horse sequence, but the plot wanders through mythology that never quite justifies itself. 'Into the Unknown' is good, not 'Let It Go' good.
DD Tier: For completionists only
Treasure Planet
A genuinely fun sci-fi reimagining of Treasure Island that bombed hard enough to help end Disney's traditional animation era for a while. John Silver's design is clever, but the story doesn't do enough with it.
Brother Bear
Competent but forgettable, arriving right as audiences were tiring of this style of Disney film. The brother-bond message is sincere, it just doesn't leave much of a mark after the credits roll.
FF Tier: Jury's still out
Zootopia 2
About Zootopia 2
An animated sequel to Disney's 2016 hit Zootopia, bringing back police officer Judy Hopps and con artist fox Nick Wilde for a new mystery in the animal metropolis of Zootopia. The film is produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- Studio
- Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Voice cast
- Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman
- Predecessor
- Zootopia (2016)
Also ranked in: November/December 2026 Movies Ranked
How we ranked them
We weighed critical reception, box office and cultural staying power against how fans actually talk about these movies now, not just how they did on release. Animation quality matters, but so do story, songs and characters. Where fandom is genuinely split (looking at you, "Pocahontas" and "Brother Bear" defenders), we made a call and explained why instead of dodging it.
Think we got it wrong?
Drag all 38 disney animated movies into your own tier list, then download the image or share a link.
Rank these yourselfFAQ
What is the best Disney animated movie of all time?
By consensus, it's usually a toss-up between 'The Lion King', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Aladdin'. We give the top spot to 'The Lion King' for its scope and Scar's villainy.
What is considered the worst Disney animated movie?
'Brother Bear' and 'Treasure Planet' get mentioned most often as the weakest entries, mostly for being forgettable rather than actively bad.
How many official Disney animated movies are there?
This list covers 38 films in the official Walt Disney Animation Studios canon, from 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937) through 'Zootopia 2'.
Is Pixar included in Disney's animated movie list?
No. Pixar films like 'Toy Story' and 'Up' are made by a separate studio and aren't part of the Walt Disney Animation Studios canon covered here.
What was the first Disney animated movie?
'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', released in 1937, was the first full-length Disney animated feature.
More rankings
Image credits
- The Lion KingCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Beauty and the BeastCover: Wikipedia · Source
- AladdinCover: Wikipedia · Source
- PinocchioCover: Wikipedia · Source
- MoanaCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Snow White and the Seven DwarfsPhoto: Gustaf Tenggren, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- The Little MermaidCover: Wikipedia · Source
- The Jungle BookCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Lady and the TrampCover: Wikipedia · Source
- FantasiaCover: Wikipedia · Source
- MulanCover: Wikipedia · Source
- TangledCover: Wikipedia · Source
- ZootopiaCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Lilo & StitchCover: Wikipedia · Source
- FrozenCover: Wikipedia · Source
- One Hundred and One DalmatiansCover: Wikipedia · Source
- CinderellaPhoto: RKO Pictures, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Sleeping BeautyPhoto: Illustrator unknown. "© Walt Disney Productions", Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- The AristocatsCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Robin HoodCover: Wikipedia · Source
- HerculesCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Wreck-It RalphCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Big Hero 6Cover: Wikipedia · Source
- The Princess and the FrogCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Peter PanPhoto: Illustrator unknown. "Copyright 1952 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.", Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- The Hunchback of Notre DameCover: Wikipedia · Source
- The Emperor's New GrooveCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Alice in WonderlandPhoto: Walt Disney Productions/Buena Vista Distribution, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- DumboCover: Wikipedia · Source
- PocahontasCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Atlantis: The Lost EmpireCover: Wikipedia · Source
- TarzanCover: Wikipedia · Source
- EncantoCover: Wikipedia · Source
- BambiCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Frozen IICover: Wikipedia · Source
- Treasure PlanetCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Brother BearCover: Wikipedia · Source
- Zootopia 2Cover: Wikipedia · Source