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

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2. Hocus Pocus

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.

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3. Frankenweenie

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.

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.

Beyoncé’s visual album Black is King has its origins when the singer researched her role in the live-action The Lion King. It was during this she discovered how Solomon Linda, a composer for the song “Mbubu,” which served as the basis for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” He didn’t receive any credit or royalties. Beyoncé wanted to make an entire film that told the stories of such forgotten Africans that didn’t rely on animation. The result is a spectacle for the eyes as native Africans are celebrated. From production design to costuming, Black is King is just as in-depth as any motion picture you’ll find out there.

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. 

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8. Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. went through various iterations before we got the movie we all know and love. In one version, the film followed a 30-year old man who deals with the monsters he drew as a kid haunting him as an adult. But considering the studio made children’s films, it just made sense to follow a child and the adolescent notion of there being monsters in the closet. Numerous other changes occurred, including the gender of the child and how the main monsters should look. Workshopping is a critical component of the filmmaking process, and no one knows that better than the folks at Pixar.

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.

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12. Zootopia

Zootopia takes a clear stance on prejudice and stereotypes (as we discuss in our script breakdown). It’s not a perfect comparison to human relations. After all, tigers and rabbits are, in fact, biologically different from one another. But the broad strokes of accepting one another are applicable to everyone, regardless of age. And considering the racism in some of Disney’s earlier films, Zootopia seems like a step in the right direction for a more inclusive filmography.

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.

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14. Avatar

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.

In hindsight, it may seem like Pirates of the Caribbean was always destined for success. However, pirate movies were always a big gamble. None were really big moneymakers, and they’re notoriously expensive to make. Pirates of the Caribbean changed the game thanks to its performances, visuals, and score.

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17. Christopher Robin

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.

A computer programmer gets trapped inside his own video game. The premise may be straightforward, but Tron was a landmark in visual effects when it came out in 1982. In fact, the reason why so many of the backgrounds in Tron are pure black is due to the fact it was easier to have instead of filling the entire frame with computer-generated effects. It may seem quaint today, but Tron helped push VFX forward.

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20. The One and Only Ivan

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.

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.

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22. The Rocketeer

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.

Fantasia may seem quaint by today’s standards. But it was revolutionary at the time of its release in 1940. Over 500 animated characters had to be created, which resulted in over 1,000 artists and technicians coming onboard to work on the massive project. The combination of animation with classical music is still incredible to watch to this day. It’s essential viewing for any budding animator.

The Mighty Ducks is must-watch viewing for any ‘90s kid. The film about an attorney who has to do community service by coaching a kids’ hockey team falls into many tropes of the genre. But if you want to relive your nostalgia with this classic sports movie that inspired two sequels and a very bizarre animated series.

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27. Never Been Kissed

The Trimaxion Drone Ship proved to be an interesting CGI feat. The ship needed to reflect the environment it was flying through. Nothing like it really came before. Considering this film came out in the 1980s, it’s impressive to see how much they were able to accomplish back then, all while delivering a thrilling sci-fi story kids could enjoy, too.

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.

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30. Holes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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41. Tangled

The story of Rapunzel has never seemed quite so… magical. Tangled utilized a mix of traditional animation and computer-generated imagery to create a unique artistic style at the time of release. When all was said and done, the movie took six years and an estimated $260 million to bring to life, making it one of the most expensive films of all time. Frozen may have gotten a lot of the glory out of the new Disney animated renaissance we’re currently in, but Tangled deserves some special attention.

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.

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.

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.