Best Disney Plus Movies You Can Watch Right Now (Nov. 2020)

What makes the 1998 Mulan so much better than the live-action version? There are a lot of potential answers to this question. But one answer could be in how the original, Mulan is just a normal girl trying to do the right thing. She struggles and develops as an individual after joining the Imperial Army. In the 2020 version, Mulan is magical… for some reason. There’s no growth because she’s already as powerful as she possibly could be. Fortunately, the remake’s presence doesn’t take away from the wonderful original.

Combining live-action with animation is no easy feat. But even back in 1964, Disney was up for the challenge. To accomplish this, the film relied heavily on rotoscoping. Mattes were created via Sodium Vapor screens. Extensive wire work required the film’s VFX team to take them out of the final frame. It was a marvel at the time, and one in which such care and precision is tough to replicate today.

BEST SUPERHERO MOVIES ON DISNEY PLUS

X2

Hamilton brings a 2016 performance with the original Broadway cast to the masses. The show won 11 Tonys and reignited people’s interest in musical theater. And you get a similarly thrilling experience watching a filmed version.

The way they filmed the show was to record two live performances and one where the camera crew could actually be onstage. Seeing the emotion on the actors’ faces makes you feel like you have a front row seat to the best show in town.

GOOD MODERN MOVIES ON DISNEY PLUS

Big Hero 6

The merging of Disney and Marvel would inevitably lead to an animated superhero film, and the result was Big Hero 6. It’s an underrated film in Disney’s modern canon. And the creative team behind it wisely decided to not connect the movie with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It stands on its own, telling a heartfelt superhero story without the need to connect it something bigger than what the movie needs to be. 

There are numerous movies about “found families.” Guardians of the Galaxy follows in these footsteps with a group of criminals joining forces for good. But it goes deeper than that. Many of the central heroes were forced into their respective lives of crime. Peter was abducted by Yondu’s gang. Gamora is Thanos’s daughter. They all make a decision to do better and become better people together. Your real family can influence you to do wrong, but your found family, the friends you make throughout life, can lead you down a better path. 

Reviving a long-existing property is no easy feat. But The Muppets accomplishes just that. It takes what everyone loved about the Muppets in the first place but infuses newfound life. It proved the puppets had a place in the 21st century. Hopefully, there will be plenty more Muppet movies to come.

The Nightmare Before Christmas originated from Tim Burton’s childhood. He was obsessed with holidays growing up because he felt it gave time more texture. He developed the idea for the story while working at Disney but was later fired. He went on to direct successes like Beetlejuice, and the chance to bring The Nightmare Before Christmas was rejuvenated. In contrast to popular belief, he didn’t direct the film, but it’s forever associated with Burton’s unique sensibilities.

The original book deals with some pretty heavy themes regarding animal imprisonment. The film functions as an interesting adaptation in how it kind of “Disney-fies” the source material to make it more family-friendly. But through it all, it’s still a tear-jerking affair with well-done CGI animals.

Director Tom McCarthy went from the Oscar-winning drama Spotlight to a movie about a boy running a detective agency with a bear as a best friend. While the movies are very different, McCarthy keeps his attention focused on the humanity within these characters. There are plenty of zany moments and deadpan jokes in this movie, but the characters and their emotions remain the focal point.  

Sometimes you just need to watch a silly buddy cop movie where the cop’s buddy is a dog. Tom Hanks helps elevate the film from what it could’ve been. Now’s a great time to get reacquainted with this concept because Disney+ has greenlit a TV series based around the movie. Hopefully, they get a dog that’s just as cute as Hooch was.

Sister Act, a film about a lounge singer going into the witness protection program after witnessing a murder and becoming a nun, is pure fun. There’s a real kinetic energy to film from the jokes to the musical numbers. It’s the perfect family film to pass onto your own children, and it’s held up amazingly well.

Lindsay Lohan’s character was originally written as goth. It would have made for an interesting dynamic as her mother takes on a completely different persona and one she’s entirely unfamiliar with. However, by making the character preppy, the movie avoids feeling too dated. The script was rewritten when Lohan appeared at the audition in preppy attire, and now the movie is a Disney classic.

Rick Moranis had such a wonderful presence on-screen. He comes across as your dad, provided your father had impeccable comedic timing. With roles in films like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Ghostbusters, he became beloved by a generation. He quit acting to take care of his children after his wife passed away, and while we may never see him in another film, we at least have the memories from such joyous movies as this one. 

James Cameron brought us Aliens, so it’s not a surprise to see his fascination with extraterrestrial life on full display in Aliens of the Deep. Cameron journeys into the depths of the ocean, showing how life can thrive in such extreme environments.  It’s a truly remarkable documentary considering the footage they were able to capture, and it shows how dedicated Cameron is as a filmmaker in the way he pushes the limits of technology.

Avatar deserves praise for what it did for motion picture technology. New motion capture filming techniques were utilized, and the film served as a breakthrough for stereoscopic filmmaking. It created the illusion of depth so incredibly well. Other films in the following years tried to hop aboard the 3D train, but none of them had the same care and precision as Avatar. We can’t wait to see how good the sequels look compared to the first one.

Toy Story went through numerous iterations. At one point, Woody was described as plainly “a jerk.” But the team at Pixar stuck with it and kept reinventing the story. All the while, they pretty much came up with a bold new animation style that no one had used for a feature-length film before. But of course, movie history was made instead.

A prominent problem with many streaming services is the severe lack of older films. It’s hard to find anything prior to the 1980s most of the time, which is why you should take advantage of classic films whenever they’re available. The Sound of Music, which was actually the highest-grossing film of all time from 1965 to 1970. It’s the last Rodgers/Hammerstein collaboration of the era, and it’s a lovely film that should be on every filmmaker’s watchlist. 

LIST OF THE BEST DISNEY+ MOVIES

Old Yeller

Before superhero movies were all the rage, The Rocketeer was viewed as a bit of a gamble. But the film ends up serving as a fun prototype for what the superhero movie would become. It’s good, old-fashioned fun, and it’s easy to see why director Joe Johnston was brought onboard to direct Captain America: The First Avenger.

One of the biggest selling points for Disney Plus was how all 30+ seasons of The Simpsons would be on it. For our money, you really just need to watch seasons three through nine and cap it off with The Simpsons Movie. Plans for a movie for the eponymous sitcom family have been around since the '90s, and the script went through over 100 revisions before it finally went into production. Revising your own script five or six times seems a lot more manageable by comparison.

The early 2000s were an interesting time for Disney animation. Princess tales took a backseat to movies like Treasure Planet, Atlantic: The Lost Empire, and The Emperor’s New Groove. This also happened to be the time when 2D animation was beginning to get phased out for 3D. It’s hard to imagine Disney greenlighting something like this these days, and that’s what makes it such a special addition to the Disney inventory.

Born in China follows three different animal families: golden snub-nosed monkeys, snow leopards, and giant pandas. The stories they manage to intertwine with these animals help give them a greater sense of scale. By humanizing the animals, there’s a greater sense of urgency in trying to protect them.

Filming was intense on Holes. Inside the holes, temperatures would reach up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a real life Camp Green Lake as the actors had to go through physical training to prepare for the shoot. No doubt those conditions contributed to the real anguish on display from the young actors. The film is incredibly faithful to the source material, and it actually makes you want to read the book afterward.

Most people have heard of Balto, the brave dog that helped in the transportation of medicine to help with an outbreak of diphtheria in a remote Alaskan town. But what got glossed over in history is the fact that the dog, Togo, took the medicine a majority of the way. A reporter simply got the story mixed up. Togo is a prime example of how movies can do more than entertain. They can educate and reveal insights into history we may not have known before.

Tim Burton made a live-action short film titled Frankenweenie in the ‘80s, which you can also watch on Disney+. Decades later, he got the chance to turn the tale of a boy who brings his dead dog back to life into a feature-length film. The theme of fear of the unknown permeates the movie, making it truly relevant to today’s world. It’s Burton back to doing what he does back: taking wacky tales with unique aesthetics and making them universal stories.

Christopher Robin takes a unique spin on the tale of Winnie the Pooh. While other live-action Disney adaptations pretty much parrot what came before, this film allows the titular character to grow up. He’s lost the magic he had as a child until he starts talking to Pooh and pals once again. It’s a heart-warming film that shows you don’t have to lose childhood magic just because you become an adult.

T’Challa is the new king of Wakanda who must decide what kind of leader he will be. But the character who steals the show in Black Panther is the villain, Killmonger. Much has been said about how he’s arguably the best antagonist in an MCU film. And the reason for this is that in some scenes… you actually find yourself agreeing with him. He makes a lot of sense, and you could make an entirely new film with him as a protagonist. And it would probably work. It’s a more sophisticated kind of superhero film. Even if it does have some Marvel trademarks, it remains a distinctly Ryan Coogler film.

It’s not every day you see an animated children’s movie where two characters have a lengthy discussion about public perception. But The Incredibles has always been something unique with Pixar’s canon. The sequel excels because it doesn’t merely take what works in the original. It pushes the characters in new, interesting directions. Plus, you can’t go wrong by having a baby beat up a raccoon.

To make sure the documentary crew didn’t get in Alex Honnold’s way, they had to develop a special recording device. Honnold kept this item in his chalk bag, so they could still capture every single sound. It’s an innovative solution and shows how even the most difficult to capture documentary subjects can still end up in gripping detail on camera.

So many adaptations of older properties try to mold them into modern reimaginings. But you don’t need to fix what isn’t broken. The Peanuts Movie sees Charlie Brown trying to win favor with the Little Red-Haired Girl, and Snoopy imagines himself as a legendary pilot. It takes what worked so well all those years ago and simply reintroduces these beloved characters to a new audience.

Leonardo DiCaprio was originally offered the lead role of Max in Hocus Pocus but turned it down to star in Who’s Eating Gilbert Grape. While it would have been an interesting origin story for the actor, the film remains a perennial favorite among millennials every Halloween season. It’s arguably the best-renowned Disney Channel original film that’s both fun and a little scary at times.

Directors John Musker and Ron Clements did research on the Polynesian demigod Māui and traveled to Tahiti, Samoa, and Fiji to brush up on Pacific Islander culture. The result is numerous accurate details to make Moana feel like it exists in a lived-in world, such as the scene where one islander receives a tattoo in the traditional manner in that part of the world. With songs from Hamilton scribe, Lin-Manuel Miranda, there’s something for everyone.