There my family and I were, sitting in a restaurant and waiting for our bread to arrive, when my 8-year-old daughter immediately ignored us and went right to the trivia box at the corner of the table.
She must have clicked on the Disney category, because she was audibly answering all of these questions about Disney movies. But then, out of the blue, she stopped for a second, peered up at me and asked, “What’s YOUR favorite Disney movie, Papa?”
I opened my mouth to say something, but then my mouth just stayed open. Because I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been asked that question before. So this is a chronicle of how my thought process went at the table.
Being a ‘90s kid, my mind immediately skyrocketed to the Disney Renaissance Era from 1989-1999. You know what I’m talking about: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King. In other words, the GOATS. And at first, my mind was cycling among which one of those four movies was going to be my all-time favorite.
But, being a boy who was desperately seeking male lead characters in my Disney movies back in the day, my mind eventually settled on either Aladdin, or The Lion King. I was just about to pull the trigger on The Lion King when I suddenly remembered the live-action Lion King remake that came out a few years ago. And when I thought about that, my mind instantly turned against Simba’s story.
While yes, I know I shouldn’t hold the live-action Disney remakes against the original movies (especially since there are actually some great things about the Disney remakes ), they ultimately make me think back to the original films, and whether they truly hold up today like I once thought they did.
I’ve of course rewatched all of the Disney Renaissance films, since I’ve watched them with my children. But even though I still like them for the most part, I find that I have at least a few qualms with all of them. Especially when it comes to a movie like The Little Mermaid, as I’d rather my daughter watch a movie like Moana, which has a much stronger female lead character. Speaking of movies like Moana…
Then I Thought About How Much I Really Love Modern Era Disney Movies
No disrespect to the Disney Animation Studios movies from 2000-2010, but my mind immediately skipped over all of them (save for Tangled, which I still believe is better than Frozen), and instantly jumped to movies like Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, Strange World, and yes, again, Moana. That’s because I really, really, really love this current era of Disney animation.
You see, today’s era doesn’t need to rely on blockbuster songs (though some of them like Frozen and Encanto have them). Instead, they’re more story-focused. I grew up watching the pre-Disney Renaissance cartoons, like Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Pinnocchio, etc, but all of them now feel super ancient.
In contrast, all of the recent Disney animated films feel ultra modern. And I’m not just talking about the visuals, but also the kinds of stories that are being told. With a movie like Strange World, we’re now seeing queer main characters, which is a step in the right direction.
And even though I didn’t love Frozen, I really admired that it told a story of a different kind of love that plays against the tropes of a damsel needing the love of a man like Disney of old (or not even that old, as is the case with the original The Little Mermaid).
It was for this reason that I was soon going to settle on one of these modern movies, when my wife, who glanced up from her menu said, “I’m surprised that you’re not picking The Avengers.”
And That’s When I Started To Wonder If I Should Now Count Star Wars Or Marvel Flicks As Disney Movies
My wife just had to say that, didn’t she? Because even though I was ready to finally come up with an answer, I was reminded that Disney is not JUST their animation studio anymore. But rather, a whole BUNCH of other studios and companies as well. I mean, as soon as you turn on Disney+, you DO see Star Wars and Marvel right up there alongside Pixar, Disney, and National Geographic.
So this posed another dilemma for me. How could I say that I liked any of the aforementioned Disney movies MORE than I loved something like Eternals, which I don’t care what you say, is still my favorite Marvel movie, or a film like Rogue One, which is my new favorite Star Wars movie.
Honestly, even though I got off the Marvel hype train a while ago, I still can’t deny that for a good 10 years or so, the MCU was my life.
And then I thought, well, what about The Sixth Sense? That’s technically a Disney movie, right? And, if we’re going to go that route, then I might as well include a movie like Predator since Disney now owns Fox.
But no, I then came to my senses. The kind of people who would categorize a Star Wars flick or a Marvel movie as a Disney film, are probably the same kinds of people who would consider Die Hard a Christmas movie. And, while yes, there are definitely people who do consider Die Hard a Christmas movie, I’ve never been about that lifestyle.
And Then I Wondered If I Should Count Pixar Movies As Well
At this point, my daughter forgot about what she even asked me and went back to her trivia game, but I was still deep in thought. Because even though I pushed Star Wars and the MCU out of my mind, my brain still circled back to Disney+ and Pixar.
Unlike the MCU or Star Wars, I think a lot of people automatically connect Pixar to being a Disney company. Pixar has always seemed like it was underneath the same umbrella as the other Disney cartoons. And even if their quality was wildly different, it was more like this is the talented older sister who’s going to med school, (Pixar), and this is her younger brother who’s trying really hard, and has a solid C-average in all of his classes (Disney in the 2000s).
Maybe that analogy doesn’t really work for you, especially since Disney is the parent company, and not the other way around. But it always just felt like Pixar was the better branch of Disney Animation, without actually even being a part of Disney Animation, if that makes any sense.
I love Pixar, and Soul is one of my favorite movies of all time, so I was going to go with that. But then it just didn’t sit right with me, because even though Disney does own Pixar, I still felt like none of the Pixar films are part of the core Disney movies, since Pixar is really its own separate thing.
In The End, I Settled On Moana, Which Really Surprised Me
“My favorite Disney movie is Moana,” I told my daughter, and my wife said, “Really?” And yes, really. I was just as surprised as she was.
Honestly, I’ve probably seen Moana more than any other movie in my entire life. For a solid year, it was the only movie my daughter watched, and you know what? Every time I’d sit down to watch it with her, I couldn’t pull myself away from it.
It just has everything I love: The story’s great, I love the lead and supporting characters, the music is wonderful, the villain is really cool and unique, and I really don’t have any complaints about it. I could have picked Zootopia, as I do love that film, too. But, even though I’m a big fan of the movie, I think the Zootopia+ show on Disney+ kind of hurt my feelings about that film, so Moana it is.
And guess what? That’s my daughter’s favorite Disney movie, too! It’s just that good. But, what’s YOUR favorite Disney movie? For more news on all things Disney, be sure to swing by here often!
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
