by JollyFrogger Diva
Disney and animated movies have always gone hand-in-hand to me. I can remember the excitement I had as a child going to the theater to see the latest Disney animated movie. I can remember sitting through Pocahontas, Mulan, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, my eyes glued to the screen with excitement. Although my kids are still a little young to sit through an entire movie in a theater just yet, we have already begun to instill a love of Disney animated movies in them at home. Here is a list of our family’s top 5 favorite Disney animated movies.
1) Moana
Make way, make way all other Disney animated movies! Moana is definitely a favorite movie in our house for both the children and adults alike. My 2 year old and 6 year old can both sing any song from the movie on request, and frequently break into one of those songs. If you haven’t seen this tale of a teenager striking out on her own, away from the safety her family has created, to save her village and see what lies beyond the reef, then you’re missing one of Disney’s best in my opinion. The music is catchy and fun to sing along with, and I love that Moana is a strong female character my girls can look up to. In fact, my whole family loves Moana (and Maui) so much that we’ve dressed up as characters from the movies for the past 2 Halloweens. My girls also had a Moana themed pool party for their birthday this past year, which you can read about here. This movie is definitely one of the most-played Disney movies in our home and I don’t see that changing any time in the foreseeable future.
2) Frozen
Do you want to build a snowman? My kids sure do. They love to bust out in songs from Frozen, especially if one of them is behind a closed door and the other one wants in. I’ll admit that at first this wasn’t one of my favorites, but after seeing it approximately five billion times it has definitely melted my frozen heart. My oldest was so obsessed with this movie when it first came out that she would have sat in front of the TV and watched it all day on repeat if we would have allowed it. Frozen was the theme for my oldest daughter’s 3rd birthday (you can read about that here) and you will still find several sets of Anna and Elsa dolls throughout our house. Now my youngest has caught the Frozen bug as well, so this movie has become even more popular in our house lately. My oldest has always been drawn to Elsa and now my youngest seems drawn to Anna, so it’s really cute to watch them sing the songs together. They can’t wait to meet Anna and Elsa at Epcot this fall, and I hoping I can even get them to dress up as their favorite Frozen character while we’re in the parks as well. Olaf has always been my personal favorite, so I’ll definitely be seeking him out for one of his famous warm hugs. Frozen 2 will be released shortly after our trip (Pixie Dusted Diva shares the teaser trailer here) so I’m hoping we’ll be able to find lots of fun new Frozen merchandise for the girls to enjoy.
3) The Lion King
From the day this movie arrived on the planet, I have been a huge fan of The Lion King, I think mostly due to the classic hand-drawn animation style and catchy soundtrack. I can remember opening my plastic clam-shell case popping the movie into my VCR countless times as a child. Every time we visit Disney World, I definitely have to see The Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom. Both of my girls had Lion King themed nurseries because I loved the movie so much. Now that they’re older, they both really enjoy the movie as well as the Disney TV spin-off The Lion Guard (which focuses on Simba’s son Kion). My oldest’s room has changed from Lion King to Lion Guard and my youngest still has all of her Lion King decorations. They both regularly request to watch the movie and are definitely excited to see The Festival of the Lion King when we visit Animal Kingdom this fall.
4) Beauty and the Beast
This classic tale as old as time has always been one of my most favorite Disney animated movies. It takes the traditional “girl meets boy, falls in love, and becomes a princess” to a whole new level- the boy happens to be a beast who was going to lock the girl’s father away in the dungeon for the rest of his life. My kids have come to love this movie as much as I do. Belle is one of their favorite princesses and my oldest definitely loved dressing as Belle on our last trip and meeting her at Enchanted Tales with Belle. She was also more than a little smitten when she met Gaston when we met him at Magic Kingdom. Once again, I think the things I love most about this movie are the classic hand-drawn style of animation and the catchy soundtrack- I may or may not be humming “Tale as Old as Time” in my head while I write this. I was so excited when Be Our Guest opened at Disney World, stepping into the grand ballroom really does feel like you’re stepping into the movie. If you’re a fan of Beauty and the Beast like I am and want to dine at Be Our Guest, check out Tinker Belle Diva’s review of breakfast and Sleepy Diva’s review of lunch.
5) The Princess and the Frog
Dreams do come true in New Orleans with this charming movie set down on the bayou. My husband and his family are from New Orleans, so perhaps little bit of our family’s culture makes The Princess and the Frog even more appealing to our family. It’s a charming twist on the “girl kisses a frog and finds her prince” story. I love the main characters, but I feel like the supporting characters are what make the movie. Louis, Mama Odie, Ray (my personal favorite) are some of the most charming characters and the movie wouldn’t be nearly as good without them. My girls love Tiana, and once again, she provides a great role model for them as she’s hardworking, kind, and loyal. Like all the movies above, the soundtrack is a favorite of our family as well- we all know and love to sing it.
So there you have it- a list of my family’s top 5 favorite animated Disney movies. There are plenty of other movies we love to watch, but these 5 are definitely most likely to be found on our TV on any given night. What are some of your family’s favorites?
