Ranking Disney Movies by Era

The Silver Age of Disney took place from 1950-1959 and consisted of 8 films, most of which are still pretty popular today. I would argue that this is the first era of Disney that stood the test of time. Even 64 years later the Silver Age of Disney remains the era that really solidified Disney as a household name. This is the era that led to the notary and consistency of Disney as a studio. Now I will say that because of the major increase in quality during this era it is rather difficult to rank them because there are no bad movies, only good and better ones.

Lady and the Tramp

In last place is Lady and the Tramp. The only real reason this movie is in last place is because comparatively it's a little boring. This was the era of love, magic and incredible music and Lady and the Tramp just falls a little flat in all of those areas.

Sword in the Stone

Okay it's a really good movie and I legit sat here for 30 minutes trying to figure out what I was going to put in the second worst spot because the Silver Age is probably the most perfect era of Disney movies. But all I have here is that the little crazy witch used to scare me as a child and these movies are made for children so like….don’t scare them. That’s it, that's all I’ve got.

101 Dalmatians

Classic movie, it's gotten its fair share of live actions and it is definitely a movie that stands the test of time. The gap between these movies is just so small, really the only thing separating them now is music and art style and I am desperately trying to not let these rankings come down to personal preference and nostalgia but that might be all I have left.

Jungle Book

Seriously amazing music and story. I just had to make some rough cuts. I love the Jungle Book. I think it is one of Disney’s most underappreciated movies but it is easily one of the most entertaining. Mowgli is one of my favorite characters and found family stories will get me everytime.

Alice in Wonderland

A beautiful display of animation, some of the best artwork to come out of Disney at the time. I think the film really captured the original story, it was creepy, it was weird, it was funny. Also a movie that kind of freaked me out as a child but an undeniably great movie.

Sleeping Beauty

Now I want to say that I was struggling really hard between this and Cinderella. Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney princess and one of my favorite Disney movies. The film looks like a painting, the music is beautiful and the princess looks like my mommy. The only reason I allowed Cinderella to be ranked above this is because the story doesn’t hold up as well. Aurora has no real agency and she spends most of the movie asleep.

Cinderella

Begrudgingly, Cinderella is the second highest ranked film. The story is better but I maintain that Sleeping Beauty is underappreciated magic. Cinderella did save the studio when Walt was out of money and it is one of the most iconic things that Disney has ever produced. Both of these princesses have castles at Disney parks.

Peter Pan

I truly don’t think that you can beat the animation and magic of Peter Pan. It is timeless, the music is incredible and you don’t get more memorable then Tinker Bell.

The Silver Age is truly the most consistent era of Disney. The next couple of eras to follow produced some incredible films as well but none were so close and difficult to rank. The silver age was an incredible age of Disney.