It’s hard to believe that it has been over a year since the first Covid-19 case was found in the United States and our daily lives were turned upside down. When the pandemic began to pick up pace, my office quickly shut down, and we all became work from home employees. I took this opportunity to spend more time with my siblings and we decided that while we were stuck at home we would watch a Disney Movie every night!

To narrow our selection we decided that the movies had to be theatrically released. We could watch any other Disney movies we wanted, but we didn’t have to. Initially, my four siblings and I made a list of movies that any of us had never seen and we watched them in chronological order. The older of us hadn’t seen some recent films like Big Hero 6 and Wreck it Ralph. The youngest had missed out on the not-so-popular older movies like Treasure Planet and The Sword in the Stone. We never thought we would make it through that list, but we did, and we kept going. Next up were all the movies we had skipped because we had seen them. We tried to put the ones we weren’t looking forward to like Dinosaur and Robin Hood, between ones we liked such as Mulan and Monsters Inc. 

Watching a movie every night could get repetitive and at times we would have to force ourselves to do it. Some nights, watching a movie got tiresome or got in the way of plans so we would find ourselves watching early in the day or late at night. But when all was said and done, we had watched 100 Disney movies in a row! Overall it was an amazing experience to sit down every day and spend time together and it is one of my best memories from the shutdowns. We actually still watch Disney movies together regularly. Looking back, we could all pretty much agree on the best and the worst.

The Best:

We found it a lot harder to choose the best movies than to choose the worst movies. We think most Disney movies are above average, so these picks are the best of the best, and ones we could watch over and over. 

The Emperor’s New Groove

This is a seriously under-rated Disney film and it’s one of our favorites! We quote this movie all the time and have watched it a ton before our marathon. For us, Patrick Warburton isn’t the Soarin flight instructor, he’s Kronk. The humor in The Emperors’ New Groove is unlike that you will find in any other Disney movie and is the result of a brief time period where Disney Animation was not dealing with very much oversight due to drama elsewhere in the company. Disney animators have said they will never be able to make a movie like the Emperor’s New Groove again, so enjoy it!

Toy Story 2

I’m a strong believer that the Toy Story franchise is the only time that a sequel was better than the original. Even the characters introduced in the second movie are now just considered main characters. That never happens and shows what a great movie this is. Toy Story 2 is perfect. 

Ratatouille

Ratatouille was the first movie out of the 100 that we watched for a second time. It’s just so good! With the recent popularity of Ratatouille the Musical and the new Ratatouille ride opening in EPCOT, I’ll probably be watching this one again soon!

Honorable mentions: Tangled, Moana, Peter Pan, and Hercules

The Worst: 

Choosing the worst was pretty easy. Most of these movies we had only seen once, or not at all, and we probably won’t be turning them on again any time soon.

 The Great Mouse Detective 

For us, The Great Mouse Detective just wasn’t anything special. When polling my siblings to find the worst they all agreed “that mouse one” should be at the bottom. We watched a lot of the movies in chronological order which means this one fell in with The Fox and The Hound, Oliver and Company, and The Little Mermaid. The Great Mouse Detective just couldn’t live up to its competition. 

Fantasia 2000

This might be a bit controversial as Fantasia 2000 is a spin on a classic, but it was just plain boring. My brothers had never seen this one and kept asking when the actual story was going to start. The only part they really enjoyed was Sorcerer Mickey. This is a movie I could turn on in the background while I work, but not one I want to sit down with a bowl of popcorn to watch.

Tron: Legacy

Tron: Legacy very easily takes the last place. The story was really convoluted and hard to follow. Throughout the (over two-hour-long) film we kept asking each other questions no one could answer then gave up and started looking at our phones. Even the cool lightcycles couldn’t save this movie. Out of all 100 movies, this is the only one we didn’t finish.

Honorable mentions: Thumbelina, Pinocchio (the donkeys!!), and The Black Cauldron

What would make your lists? Let us know in the comments below!