# What is the best Disney animated movie from Walt Disney's era?

> Wartime musical anthologies sit beside the fairy tales that made the studio's name, all shaped under Walt's own eye. Some still fill theme parks; a few are barely remembered outside film classes.

*By YPB Team · Published November 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-disney-animated-movie-from-walt-disneys-era*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Pinocchio** — score 1000/1000
   A 1940 adaptation of Carlo Collodi's novel that won Academy Awards for its score and for the song When You Wish Upon a Star.
2. **The Jungle Book** — score 738/1000
   A 1967 adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's stories, released ten months after Walt Disney's death in December 1966 and the last animated feature he personally worked on.
3. **Snow White** — score 700/1000
   Disney's first full-length animated feature, a 1937 adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
4. **Lady and the Tramp** — score 658/1000
   A 1955 romance between a pampered cocker spaniel and a stray, and Disney's first animated feature filmed in CinemaScope.
5. **Sleeping Beauty** — score 625/1000
   A 1959 fairy-tale feature shot in Super Technirama 70, with a score adapted from Tchaikovsky's ballet and Maleficent as its villain.
6. **The Three Caballeros** — score 625/1000
   A 1944 package film mixing animation and live action in which Donald Duck travels Latin America with José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles.
7. **Peter Pan** — score 625/1000
   A 1953 adaptation of J. M. Barrie's play, with Bobby Driscoll voicing Peter and Kathryn Beaumont voicing Wendy.
8. **Fantasia** — score 500/1000
   A 1940 concert feature of animated segments set to classical pieces conducted by Leopold Stokowski, including Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
9. **Ichabod and Mr. Toad** — score 433/1000
   The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) pairs adaptations of The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, narrated by Basil Rathbone and Bing Crosby.
10. **Make Mine Music** — score 357/1000
   A 1946 package film of ten musical shorts, among them Peter and the Wolf and Casey at the Bat.
11. **One Hundred and One Dalmatians** — score 357/1000
   A 1961 adaptation of Dodie Smith's novel about puppies stolen by Cruella de Vil, the first Disney feature to use xerography throughout to transfer drawings to cels.
12. **Bambi** — score 357/1000
   A 1942 adaptation of Felix Salten's novel about a young deer, with the young Bambi voiced by Donnie Dunagan.
13. **Saludos Amigos** — score 357/1000
   A 42-minute package film drawn from Disney's 1941 goodwill tour of Latin America, which introduced the parrot José Carioca.
14. **Melody Time** — score 357/1000
   A 1948 package film of seven musical segments, including Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill.
15. **Fun and Fancy Free** — score 269/1000
   A 1947 two-part film pairing Bongo, about a circus bear, with Mickey and the Beanstalk starring Mickey, Donald and Goofy.
16. **Cinderella** — score 269/1000
   A 1950 adaptation of Charles Perrault's fairy tale featuring the Oscar-nominated song Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.
17. **Dumbo** — score 269/1000
   A 1941 feature of about 64 minutes about a baby circus elephant mocked for his huge ears, which won the Oscar for its musical scoring.
18. **The Sword in the Stone** — score 0/1000
   A 1963 adaptation of T. H. White's novel about the young King Arthur's lessons with Merlin, the last Disney animated feature released in Walt's lifetime.
19. **Alice in Wonderland** — score 0/1000
   A 1951 adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice books, with Kathryn Beaumont voicing Alice.

Tags: movies, disney, animation, classics, 40s, 50s