The National Film Registry is an important trove of some of the most important movies ever made, with the powerhouse studio Disney having 14 of its own films on the list. Since 1988, the National Film Registry collects and preserves important films, as selected by a public nomination, from the entire history of US cinema. However, with only 25 new entries making the list each year, the registry is set to welcome the 876th through to the 900th entry in December 2024.
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With this tight restriction, there are still many more important films in terms of their historical, cultural, and overall significance that have yet to appear on the list. And with the restriction that a film must be 10 years old or more, it leaves room for contributors to nominate notable films from older periods. With all of that said, to date, just 14 of the incredible animated Disney movies are on the list as of 2023, each earning their spot by popular vote.
14 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Suitably, as Disney’s oldest animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was among the first movies to ever join the National Film Registry back in 1989. The 1937 film was the first animated movie to ever be produced in the US, and the very first to use cel animation. This landmark in cinema launched Disney’s success.
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The story is adapted from the popular fairy tale found in the Brothers Grimm compilation of stories from 1812. In turn, this story was taken from the narrative format, with just a few hand-drawn illustrations, and turned into a moving motion picture with the aid of more hand-drawn cells. Today, the story is once again being adapted by Disney into a live-action feature film, starring Rachel Zegler, although the updated version is unlikely to make it into the NFR anytime soon.
13 Pinocchio
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Despite being released just a few short years after the Snow White movie in 1940, Pinocchio had a longer wait to get onto the NFR. Pinocchio was finally inducted into the NFR in 1994. Once again, the film adapts its story from an older text. This time, an Italian writer who published the book in 1883 as The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Disney’s early foray into film was clearly influenced largely by the texts and stories that most people were familiar with, and these popular stories made a great template for the animation studio. As was common for stories of that era, Pinocchio was an instructional book, which set out to teach the audience the importance of telling the truth. For many decades after its release, it continued to teach this lesson to several generations of children.
12 Fantasia
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Mickey Mouse’s debut under Disney came in 1928, when the now iconic mouse appeared in a short animated feature called Steamboat Willie. This short film was in fact a tribute to a popular film released earlier that same year, which starred Buster Keaton, Steamboat Bill, Jr. However, due to the popularity of this short film, Mickey Mouse was quickly turned into a cartoon star for Disney.
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By the late 1930s, the character had fallen out of vogue after enjoying nearly a decade as a cartoon star, but 1940 brought him firmly back when he starred in the Disney musical anthology film, Fantasia. This film was widely praised at the time of release, and helped to restore the Mouse to his rightful place as the mascot for Disney. And interestingly enough, both Steamboat Willie and Steamboat Bill, Jr. were inducted into the NFR several years after Fantasia was selected in 1990.
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11 Dumbo
Dumbo was released in 1941. In a new development for Disney, the story was based on a then unpublished book, which the studio acquired the rights to ahead of its release. It also saw the studio transition from films which starred human protagonists, like Snow White, or even humanoid creations like Pinocchio, to anthropomorphic talking animals.
Dumbo broke new ground, and while it may not be at the top of the list of the most iconic classic Disney films that people have seen, it remains instrumental in the progression and growth of Disney. This was recognized by the NFR when the film was inducted in 2017. And it inspired the studio to continue pushing forward with these kinds of innovations.
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10 Bambi
Bambi was released one year later in 1942. As mentioned above, it followed the pattern set by Dumbo, and focused on a young deer who recently lost its mother due to some hunters roaming through their home. Here the story was loosely based on another novel, Bambi, a Life in the Woods, released in 1923. As emotional as Dumbo was, Bambi had far more emotional weight in the story, and served a more mature narrative.
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As a result, Bambi remains far more popular than Dumbo, and this can be seen in the fact that it was registered in the NFR years earlier, in 2011. Bambi remains a pivotal film for Disney, and one of the most powerful stories by the studio. The film was also nominated for three Academy Awards, and while it did not win any of the categories, this was the most nominations a Disney animated film had received up to that point.
9 Cinderella
Several years later, Disney released Cinderella in 1950. The film was based on a Charles Perrault fairy tale of the same name, which was originally released in 1697. Over the 1940s, Walt Disney was struggling as a company, and the films released in that period did not manage to earn large sums at the box office. Cinderella was an effort to change this fortune, and upon its release, it managed to do just that.
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The film was a huge commercial and critical success, becoming the highest grossing film for the studio since 1937s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. In addition, the film added a new princess to the studio, which would later go on to become its own unique set of stars. With all of this in mind, it’s no wonder the film was inducted into the NFR in 2018.
8 Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp debuted a few short years later in 1955, but at that time, Disney Studios took some major steps forward. Lady and the Tramp became the first animated film to be filmed in CinemaScope, a widescreen film making process. In addition, the film came shortly after Disney split from their original distributor, RKO Radio Pictures, and became their first title distributed by Buena Vista, their in-house distributor.
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Despite mixed reviews from critics, the film was a box office hit, and found favor with the audiences. And in addition, it proved that Disney was able to create compelling narratives with non-human characters. As a result, the film was welcomed into the NFR in 2023.
7 Sleeping Beauty
After the huge success of Cinderella, Disney decided to double down on the fairy tales of Charles Perrault and adapt another story from his repertoire. As a result, Sleeping Beauty debuted in 1959, after a monumental effort from the studio that meant the movie took nearly a decade to make. It also became the most expensive animated feature film by Disney at the time.
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Despite this, the film suffered largely negative reviews, and it fell short of the goal at the box office, which resulted in the film’s failure, leading to mass layoffs. In spite of all this, the art style of the film was praised, and in the decades after it’s initial release, Sleeping Beauty went on to become one of the most beloved animated stories by the studio. Though recent years have seen her rival, Maleficent, exceed Princess Aurora in popularity.
6 The Little Mermaid
For many years, Walt Disney struggled to stay afloat, with several releases failing to draw any meaningful attention. In a period when the studio was still trying to maintain their relevance with a handful of films that got moderate attention, they turned to the incredible works of Hans Christian Andersen, to produce The Little Mermaid. While Disney had enjoyed some success before, the release of The Little Mermaid was a different ball game.
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Upon its release in 1989, The Little Mermaid enjoyed widespread critical praise for every element from the animation to the music. The film earned two Academy Award wins, and it took home a hefty $569 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). As a result, this film started a revival for Disney that saw the company comeback, and never drop out of relevance again.
5 Beauty and the Beast
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Disney saw this success, and they ran with it, again putting their focus on a Disney Princess, which had appeared to result in the studio’s most notable success. So just two years later in 1991, they released Beauty and the Beast. While Disney had been recognized at the largest awards ceremonies for decades, the studio tended to find favor in categories for music and animation, but that changed with Beauty and the Beast.
The film’s incredible success saw Beauty and the Beast become the first animated film to win the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, and it was nominated in that same category at the Academy Awards. In addition, it won two further categories at the Academy Awards, and was nominated for several others. The success was monumental, and again ensured the companies’ ongoing success.
4 The Nightmare Before Christmas
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In 1993, Disney again found success with a very different type of film. The Nightmare Before Christmas was considerably darker than many of Disney’s other films, and so the studio chose to release it under the Touchstone brand in order to avoid confusing their family-friendly brand. However, the film was a huge commercial and critical success.
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Since its initial release, the film has gone on to earn a large cult following, especially in the wake of Tim Burton’s rise in popularity, as the director originally conceived of the idea for the story and served as a producer. Today, the film is praised for its innovative stop-motion animation style, and its boundless creativity. As a result, it was inducted into the NFR in 2023.
3 The Lion King
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In 1994, Disney found its most notable success up to that point when they released The Lion King. Having enjoyed a streak of success, the studio hired a star-studded ensemble cast, recruited the immensely talented and popular Elton John to compose the score, and pushed for a new story which was loosely based on the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. The Lion King was the start of a new era for Disney, and it exploded in popularity.
With a string of awards, and rapidly rising to become the second highest grossing film of all-time upon its release, The Lion King was a success in every sense of the word. It sparked the imagination of a generation of kids, and became the film that established Disney’s remarkable reputation after so much success in such a short span. The Lion King was registered on the NFR in 2016.
2 Toy Story
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In the early 1990s, a landmark relationship began when Disney employed the services of an innovative tech company, Pixar, to create a new film. Toy Story was released in 1995, and became the first animated film to be created entirely on computers, as opposed to traditional animation styles. This innovation changed the landscape of animated films forever, and marked the beginning of Pixar’s reign as a major player in that realm.
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Toy Story was widely praised, and to this day, the film holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of remarkably few movies that have achieved such a feat. Thanks to the innovation and change it brought, as well as the overall quality, the film was inducted into the NFR in 2005, as soon as the film became eligible to do so.
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1 WALL-E
WALL-E is the most recent Disney film to be inducted onto the NFR, having been released in 2008. The film is another collaboration with Pixar, but it saw the studio venture into telling a story that for much of the first half has almost no dialogue. The film explores the topics of a world devastated by humans, and the people who jet off into space to find a new home.
All of this is seen from the perspective of a small robot, who largely expresses himself physically. This remarkable method of storytelling, the thought-provoking themes, and the incredible ability to make a device feel so emotive make this a remarkable animated film. As a result, it was granted a place on the NFR before some of the other Disney classics in 2021.