Ranking Disney Movies By Era

The Bronze Age of Disney took place from 1970 to 1988. Though it was also a solid era of filmmaking it is slightly easier to rank then the silver age. The Bronze Age however has arguably more nostalgia tied to it for Millennials so this list may be slightly less impartial. This era also contains 8 movies as this was before Disney had expanded and started cranking out movies like there was no tomorrow. So here we go, the Bronze era of Disney.

Starting at the “bottom” (because everything in this era was amazing) we have The Great Mouse Detective. It earns the bottom spot if for no other reason then it's more of a cult classic in terms of Disney movies. People that aren’t die hard fans have either long forgotten this movie, or they have no idea what it is. And I feel that even people that have seen it, have forgotten it for the most part.

Next up is Oliver and Company. It is a very cute Oliver Twist adaptation and I love when Disney finds a way to introduce children to classical literature. The songs are great and Billy Joel is an amazing Disney pull. But as great as this movie is, the other films of this era are better.

In 6th place we have The Rescuers. This era of Disney is actually really dark in terms of storylines. Nearly every movie in this era deals with something really heavy and isn’t necessarily as happy as we are used to seeing. Even in Disney’s Golden Age I don’t think the stories were this dark. I distinctly remember being obsessed with this movie as a kid but it is kind of super depressing for a large portion of the movie.

In that same vein we have the Aristocats. A butler trying to kill kittens for money is pretty dark for 6 year olds but here we are. The songs are great, the animation is beautiful and it ends up being a very fun and heartfelt movie.

One of the best movies of this Disney era is The Fox and the Hound, again talk about darker storylines. This movie tells a beautiful story about friendship, growth and change. It really focuses on how life changes when you are older and it is a much more emotional watch as an adult. I have always loved this movie but it's seriously a very good story.

An underrated gem from Disney as a whole has to be The Black Cauldron. Though it's awareness is probably similar to The Great Mouse Detective I think it's fan following is a little bit stronger. Of the two, if you ask a Disney adult what their favorite underrated Disney movie is, The Black Cauldron would be one of the top answers. The story is incredible, we get a strong female heroine for arguably the first time in the Disney mainstream (strong meaning she doesn’t get saved, no theres nothing wrong with getting saved but man or woman you should ALWAYS have the capability to save yourself). And it is a very strong and memorable film.

We have arrived at our top two Bronze age Disney movies and I went back and forth on their placement a lot and finally landed here. Robin Hood will take second place. The animation is some of Disney’s best and I will always love the dynamic duo of Robin Hood and Little John. It's some of Disney’s best humor, and one of my personal favorite love stories.

That said the first place spot has to go to Winnie the Pooh. Very few Disney properties have reached the scope of this adorable little bear. Kids of all ages, and generations have adored not only this movie but all the ones to come after it and it's characters are some of the most loved and recognizable characters of any media franchise ever. Winnie the Pooh is timeless and iconic and deserves to be in first place.

Like I said the Bronze Age was an extremely strong era from Disney, with one of the most consistent times of productions. As we get into the rest of the eras from here the films start to get much more hit or miss. Much more split opinions on the future eras movies. With the Bronze age though you might disagree with my placement you can’t possibly disagree that these are all good movies, the same can’t be said for the future of Disney.