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All 74 Animated Disney Films Ranked, According to Rotten Tomatoes

It’s hard to measure childhood nostalgia, but Rotten Tomatoes seems to have done so with these rankings.

ByMarla Mackoul|
‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989).
‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989). | Walt Disney Studios

Walt Disney Animation Studios has been delighting audiences since 1937, when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was first released. Since then, they’ve taken us on journeys far and wide, from tales of lovestruck mermaids (1989’sThe Little Mermaid), to Greek mythology retellings (1997’s Hercules), to super-powered family drama (2021’s Encanto). In the words of Walt Disney himself, “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive.”

Still, some of Disney’s animated features have performed better than others with critics and fans. To compare the reception of Disney movies throughout the decades, Rotten Tomatoes has compiled a list of each of the studio’s theatrically-released, fully-animated, feature-length films. The titles are ranked according to their score on the (admittedly controversial) Tomatometer. 

Movies are sorted into three categories: Certified Fresh, Fresh, and Rotten. For a movie to be considered Fresh, at least 60 percent of its reviews have to be positive. To be Certified Fresh, the Tomatometer has to be at least 75 percent, and the movie has to have at least five reviews from so-called top critics. These factors explain why some movies with 100 percent ratings—like The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)—rank below films that technically have a lower percentage of positive reviews.

Critics don’t necessarily reflect how much the general populace enjoyed a movie, however. That’s why Rotten Tomatoes also features the Popcornmeter, which tabulates average user reviews. Some of the most divisive Disney animated features are Pinocchio (1940), which takes the No.1 spot with a 100 percent critic rating and 73 percent audience rating, and Wish (2023), which has a 48 percent critic score and an 80 percent audience score.

These movies—and the Disney brand more broadly, including the iconic theme parks—have, in many ways, become symbolic of American culture. According to Bethanee Bemis, a specialist at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Disney has come to “define what constitutes the American experience.” It makes sense, given that one 2016 study found only 4 percent of American girls and 13 percent of American boys had never consumed Disney princess media. And those numbers are almost certainly even lower when including non-Princess movies, like Zootopia (2016) and The Lion King (1994). For many people, Disney animation is synonymous with nostalgia.

See where your childhood favorites fall in the rankings below.

  1. Certified Fresh
  2. Fresh
  3. Rotten

Certified Fresh

  • Pinocchio (1940) // 100 percent
  • Zootopia (2016) // 98 percent
  • One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) // 98 percent
  • Cinderella (1950) // 98 percent
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) // 97 percent
  • Moana (2016) // 95 percent
  • Aladdin (1992) // 96 percent
  • Dumbo (1941) // 95 percent
  • Fantasia (1940) // 95 percent
  • Beauty and the Beast (1991) // 95 percent
  • Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) // 93 percent
  • Lady and the Tramp (1955) // 93 percent
  • The Lion King (1994) // 92 percent
  • Encanto (2021) // 92 percent
  • Bambi (1942) // 91 percent
  • The Little Mermaid (1989) // 92 percent
  • Big Hero 6 (2014) // 90 percent
  • Bolt (2008) // 90 percent
  • Winnie the Pooh (2011) // 90 percent
  • Sleeping Beauty (1959) // 90 percent
  • Tangled (2010) // 89 percent
  • Frozen (2013) // 89 percent
  • Tarzan (1999) // 89 percent
  • Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) // 88 percent
  • The Jungle Book (1967) // 88 percent
  • Wreck-It Ralph (2012) // 87 percent
  • Lilo & Stitch (2002) // 87 percent
  • The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) // 86 percent
  • Mulan (1998) // 86 percent
  • The Princess and the Frog (2009) // 85 percent
  • Hercules (1997) // 82 percent
  • Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005) // 81 percent
  • Fantasia 2000 (1999) // 80 percent
  • Peter Pan (1953) // 78 percent
  • Frozen II (2019) // 77 percent
  • Disney’s Teacher’s Pet (2004) // 76 percent
  • Piglet’s Big Movie (2003) // 70 percent

Fresh

  • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) // 100 percent
  • DuckTales, the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) // 100 percent
  • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) // 88 percent
  • Alice in Wonderland (1951) // 84 percent
  • The Rescuers (1977) // 79 percent
  • The Great Mouse Detective (1986) // 78 percent
  • The Fox and the Hound (1981) // 75 percent
  • Melody Time (1948) // 75 percent
  • Fun and Fancy Free (1947) // 73 percent
  • Strange World (2022) // 72 percent
  • The Rescuers Down Under (1990) // 72 percent
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) // 72 percent
  • Treasure Planet (2002) // 69 percent
  • Meet the Robinsons (2007) // 68 percent
  • The Sword in the Stone (1963) // 66 percent
  • Dinosaur (2000) // 65 percent
  • Moana 2 (2024) // 61 percent
  • The Aristocats (1970) // 64 percent
  • The Tigger Movie (2000) // 63 percent

Rotten

  • Recess: School’s Out (2001) // 59 percent
  • A Goofy Movie (1995) // 59 percent
  • Robin Hood (1973) // 58 percent
  • Make Mine Music (1946) // 58 percent
  • The Black Cauldron (1985) // 56 percent
  • Pocahontas (1995) // 53 percent
  • Oliver & Company (1988) // 53 percent
  • Home on the Range (2004) // 52 percent
  • Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) // 48 percent
  • Wish (2023) // 48 percent
  • Return to Never Land (2002) // 45 percent
  • Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014) // 44 percent
  • Bambi II (2006) // 44 percent
  • Brother Bear (2003) // 37 percent
  • Chicken Little (2005) // 37 percent
  • Doug’s 1st Movie (1999) // 28 percent
  • Planes (2013) // 26 percent
  • The Jungle Book 2 (2003) // 19 percent

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