My friends will tell you that I am a shameless Disney fanatic. I love the studio’s product, and I’m an educated expert on the history and productions across several brands of the Disney company.
Now that people across Oakville, Halton, Ontario, Canada and across the world are staying home again once more in strengthened measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 this winter, I fell back into a regular routine from early in quarantine this past spring: watching new movies. And of the 20 originals Disney+ has premiered in its first year, I’ve seen them all.
Disney’s new streaming service has been a wildly successful streaming service since its launch just over a year ago on November 12, 2019. It already has more than 73 million subscribers worldwide (a target the company itself didn’t expect to hit until 2024) and it earned $4.9 billion US in revenue last quarter.
But within its deep catalogue with 500 movies and 7,000 TV episodes from nearly 100 years of productions of Disney’s brands, its highest profile works have been the originals. Sure, that includes high profile shows like The Mandolorian, The Right Stuff, and Muppets Now, but they've made a lot more original movies.
Having seen all 20 movies Disney premiered in their first year, I’ve definitely ranked all of them from worst to best, considering cross-brand appeal, production value, entertainment, nuance, re-watchability and ultimately: is it worth you and your family’s time to see it?
Even in the (seemingly endless) pandemic and changing quarantine rules, your time is valuable. It’s worth having a trained eye and opinion help you decide what’s worth seeing and what’s not. And my Disney knowledge is endless: Not only was I a co-host for Film.Ca Cinemas’ Disney trivia show earlier this year, I’m even a former employee of the Disney company itself.
So here are the first 20 Disney+ original movies ranked from the bottom to the top, including the bad, average, good and exceptional.
THE BAD
20. Secret Society of Second Born Royals
PG, 1hr 39mins. Superhero Family Spy Action.
Starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Niles Fitch, Isabella Blake-Thomas, Skylar Astin, Élodie Yung and Greg Bryk.
This superhero fiasco is about a group of teenagers who, as younger siblings of modern day princes and princesses, somehow have superpowers and are now secret agents. The visual effects are horrendous, and it looks like they ran out of money halfway through shooting the film.
Every “twist” (including a secret villain!) is hilariously predictable, and Secret Society is laughably out of touch of what makes an action movie realistic. Even kids will think it’s stupid, which is too bad because the sets of Illyria’s kingdom are great. It’s too bad the citizens (and royals) aren’t.
19. Artemis Fowl
PG, 1hr 35mins. Sci-Fi Fantasy Family Adventure.
Starring Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Josh Gad, Judi Dench, Nonso Anozie, Tamara Smart, Joshua MacGuire and Colin Farrell.
When you adapt an exceptionally famous book into a movie, tread carefully if you change the story. Unfortunately, director extraordinaire Kenneth Branagh (also of Disney’s terrific 2015 Cinderella) actually changed the main character of Artemis Fowl from being a bad guy into an annoying, rude, 12-year-old action hero.
This Artemis is a twerp, and he’s surrounded by an A-list cast who’s given a nauseatingly cheesy script. It’s also disappointing when, with such exciting fantasy worlds, that 70% of the movie is a house arrest siege against the fairies. Not only is this a wasted premise, it’s also inauthentic and untrue to the story of Artemis Fowl.
Read Oakville News' original review of Artemis Fowl here.
18. Noelle
PG, 1hr 40mins. Holiday Comedy.
Starring Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Julie Hagerty and Billy Eichner.
As one of the first two movies to premiere on launch day for Disney+, Noelle had a lot of pressure. The concept of Noelle (Anna Kendrick) finding her older brother (Bill Hader) who’s running his first Christmas as “official Santa” is a great one. But it’s just not that funny.
There’s a lot of interesting pieces, and Kendrick and Hader are good actors and comedians. But their surrounding cast (except for mom Julie Hagerty) doesn’t stand up with them, and Billy Eicher’s tech-savvy Gabriel is one of the unfunniest, lamest villains ever made for a Disney movie. The message is positive, and maybe worth watching once, but this is far from a holiday tradition.
THE AVERAGE
17. Black Beauty
PG, 1hr 50mins. Family Adventure Drama.
Starring Kate Winslet, Mackenzie Foy, Iain Glen, Fern Deacon and Calam Lynch.
Black Beauty is the newest film, having just premiered two days ago on the service. I have no problem with Ashley Avis’ feminist spin on Anna Sewell’s 140-year-old book about a mustang horse, with Mackenzie Foy making for a great star. I do have a problem with the modernization into today, however, which doesn’t translate well at all.
Despite stunning cinematography and a gentleness that’s true to the book, the movie is endlessly boring to watch. There are so few events and most of it is stitched with scenes of Beauty waiting for something. Worst of all is Kate Winslet’s pandering voice over as the horse, including several script inconsistencies of what Beauty can and can’t understand.
Read Oakville News' original review of Black Beauty here.
16. Elephant
G, 1hr 29mins. Nature Documentary.
Narrated by Megan Markle. (Credited as Megan, Duchess of Sussex)
Speaking of sub-par narrators, Megan Markle’s work on Elephant is hit-or-miss. The story of an elephant migration in the serengeti is well-shot, has great music, and has a ton of cute elephants. Markle, however, only occasionally finds the right tone as a nature documentary narrator.
Her worse scenes are when she reads the script like she’d read a bedtime story. It infantizes the work and makes it more childlike than it should be. It’s also longer than most Disneynature films, and that makes it hard to watch for its audience of young children. With all the Disneynature movies available on Disney+, there are better options, like Earth, Bears and Born in China.
Read Oakville News' original review of Elephant here.
15. Magic Camp
G, 1hr 40mins. Comedy.
Starring Nathaniel McIntyre, Adam DeVine, Gillian Jacobs, Bianca Grava and Jeffrey Tambor.
I was really surprised by how much fun Magic Camp is. The story is about a bunch of weirdo kids becoming friends at a summer camp where they learn to become magicians. The craftsmanship of the movie is mediocre, but there’s a lot of pieces that makes this sincerely funny and a great choice for kids, especially.
Many of the characters and conflicts are sweetly yet honestly optimistic, and the kids not only support each other but also pull off some credible, actually impressive magic tricks. Normally awkward supporting comedians like Adam DeVine and Jeffrey Tambor give surprisingly great performances, too. A great message and lots of fun overshadow the production flaws - a great choice for kids under 12.
14. One Day at Disney
G, 1hr 2mins. Documentary.
Narrated by Sterling K. Brown.
At it worst, the short One Day at Disney documentary feels like an extended commercial for different Disney products and offerings. But at its best, it’s a well-produced look into a day in the life of employees across the Disney company; you’ll be surprised to see how diverse the kinds of work they do actually is.
If you (like me) are a Disney super-fan, and liked programming such as The Imagineering Story, you’ll adore this. Otherwise, the companion short film series (also on Disney+) or coffee table book might be a better choice.
13. Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
14A, 1hr 46mins. Music Documentary.
Starring Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff and Justin Vernon.
A surprise film from Taylor Swift (in which she also stars, writes and directs) was announced this past Tuesday and released a day later. This concert film is an intimate look at Swift and co-authors of her album folklore (which she wrote, recorded and released in quarantine this summer) as the creators play the album in person for the first time at Long Pond Studios, a cottage in upstate New York.
The experience of sharing this special moment is beautiful, and Swift inviting viewers into her creative headspace of writing these songs is fascinating. The film itself, content aside, is fairly ordinary, without much variance in shooting. It’s a good enough film of a magnificent, glorious album.
12. Lady and the Tramp
PG, 1hr 44mins. Family Musical Romance.
Starring Tessa Thompson, Justin Theroux, Thomas Mann, Kiersey Clemons, Janelle Monáe and Sam Elliott.
Lady and the Tramp is more than the better of the two movies that was available on Disney+’s day one - it’s also one of their better contemporary remakes. Charlie Bean managed to extract the right moments of plot to expand on the classic romance story of two dogs who help bring families both human and canine together.
After 2019’s Dumbo and The Lion King remakes turned out to be average, this was a pleasant and refreshing change. It’s still a small movie in scope and scale, but the songs are fun and iconic moments like the spaghetti dinner are excellent. The remake isn’t notably special, but it’s at least done right.
THE GOOD
11. Stargirl
PG, 1hr 47mins. Musical Romance Drama.
Starring Graham Verchere, Grace VanderWaal, Karan Barr, Darby Stanchfield and Giancarlo Esposito.
Jerry Spinelli’s teenage romance in Arizona is among the best known-books in fifth and sixth grade (as is the famous turquoise cover), but Julia Hart’s film adaptation, for better and worse, is as mystical and as sweet as the book. While it’s technically a musical, the song list is a jukebox collection that isn’t the real star.
America’s Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal is a dazzling smash as Stargirl (or Susan) in her acting debut, and protagonist Graham Verchere is an equally great Leo. Their chemistry as friends, along with the synthesized score and dramatic landscapes, is really what brings out the magic to elevate Stargirl beyond your usual high school story of individuality; it teaches us anything can be special if you decide it can be.
10. The One and Only Ivan
PG, 1hr 35mins. Family Fantasy Drama.
Starring Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Danny DeVito, Brooklynn Prince, Helen Mirren and Angelina Jolie.
Loosely based on a true story of a gorilla and his friends who did small time shows at a shopping mall in 1960s America, Ivan’s best feature is a cavalcade of great voice acting. The listed stars above all do a great job, but so do Mike White, Phillippa Too and Ron Funches as a seal, parrot and a bunny.
Director Thea Sharrock is an experienced director of radio plays, and given that so much of the story is the animals talking to each other, the result are characters that are deeply soulful. They also made emotion more perceptible in the animals, fixing 2019’s Lion King’s fatal flaw. But the animals share a great moral that “Not all humans are bad. They can surprise you.”
Read Oakville News' original review of The One and Only Ivan here.
9. Mulan
PG, 1hr 56mins. Family War Adventure Epic.
Starring Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Gong Li, Tzi Ma and Jet Li.
Mulan made headlines for most of the summer when it was undecided how Niki Caro’s $200 million Chinese epic would premiere. It finally came out on Disney+ over Labour Day, but as the service’s first (and so far only) “Premiere Access” title, requiring an additional fee above the subscription price.
My original review stands: it’s a great movie with action, culture, spectacle, and a heart that is, as Mulan herself learns to be, “loyal, brave and true.” But it’s not worth the additional cost, which continues to be a ludicrous paywall. The good news is the film becomes free, like a normal film, to all subscribers next Friday, December 4, 2020. Wait until then before enjoying this particular film.
Read Oakville News' original review of Mulan here.
8. Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe
G, 1hr 27mins. Animated Musical Sci-Fi Adventure Comedy.
Starring Ashley Tisdale, Vincent Martella, Dan Povenmire, Alyson Stoner and Ali Wong.
If you haven’t heard of Disney’s smash-hit animated show Phineas and Ferb, then you likely aren’t a parent of school age children. The quirky show still holds the record as the longest running Disney channel series five years after its finale, but the cast and creators came back one more time to make this appropriate zippy story set sometime in the middle of the show.
You don’t need to have seen any episodes to follow what’s going on, but seeing a few beforehand will certainly help. As a movie, the songs have catchy tunes and outstanding lyrics, the stakes are high and it’s got characters who deeply care about each other. I personally could’ve used a few fewer uses of Candace saying the titular phrase “the universe is against me”, but if that’s the worst part you’ve got a darn good movie.
(Side note: I was floored to read the list of star-studded cameos that snuck into the movie, notably Tiffany Haddish in a hilarious credit.)
7. Togo
PG, 1hr 54mins. Drama Adventure History.
Starring Willem Dafoe, Diesel, Julianne Nicholson and Christopher Heyerdahl.
If you’ve seen the 1995 film Balto, you might be surprised to learn it was actually another dog who led most of the heroic journey to save Nome, Alaska from diphtheria in 1925. That dog was named Togo, and his movie is a bit erratic (and hopelessly predictable) but it doesn’t try to outsmart viewers with cheeky twists.
I’ll begrudgingly admit I’m not much of a dog person, but Diesel the dog as Togo is near irresistible. This is far superior to your average animal acting on screen. The same goes too for Willem Dafoe as musher Leonhard Seppala. The cinematography of the Alaskan wilderness is stunning, and like many great adventure stories, the most compelling scenes are often not the spoken ones between characters but those out on the tundra racing to save the day.
6. Black is King
PG, 1hr 35mins. Music Epic.
Starring Beyoncé, Folajomi Akinmurele and Nyaniso Ntsikelelo Dzedze.
After starring as Nala in last year’s Lion King, Beyoncé created a visual album companion film to The Lion King: The Gift, itself an album companion to the film. Unlike Taylor Swift’s folklore, however, there’s a full, lavish visual narrative being captured in this scrupulously detailed production, telling the epic about a young prince in real-life Africa.
Beyoncé is credited as director, but she’s truthfully more like a supervisor and on screen star. The actual directing credits, designers, choreographers and performers is hundreds of talented artists (both familiar and not) whose collective talents have made a culturally rich and awe-inspiring look into what modern Africa really is.
THE EXCEPTIONAL
5. Dolphin Reef
G, 1hr 18mins. Family Nature Documentary.
Narrated by Natalie Portman.
This is best documentary from the Disneynature brand in years. The story of young Echo the dolphin in Polynesia is exciting, bright, educational and whimsical all at once. Some of the footage they miraculously got - like close ups of tiger sharks and humpback whale pods - are indescribably jaw-dropping. Natalie Portman is also a great narrator.
While there’s no shortage of dolphins, the titular reef is the real star. The main subject is the interconnectivity of ecosystems, and how each species of plant and animal are co-dependant. That means this is Disneynature’s first film truly centred on the the complex food web and social necessity of the environment. But above all, the reef’s clarity is endlessly watchable.
Read Oakville News' original review of Dolphin Reef here.
4. Clouds
PG, 2hrs 1min. Musical Drama Biography.
Starring Fin Argus, Neve Campbell, Sabrina Carpenter, Madison Iseman, Tom Everett Scott and Lil Rey Howery.
I didn’t know the true story of Zach Sobiech, a Minnesota teen whose 2013 song “Clouds” became a runaway. The film is based on his mother’s memoir, following Zach’s short musical career after learning his cancer is terminal. Under sophomore director Justin Baldoni (of TV's Jane the Virgin,) the film Clouds is an emotional wallop that will make you cry and is so uplifting your heart will soar.
The secret ending is never hidden, and the whole cast (especially the six starring parts listed above) are the strongest ensemble of any Disney+ movie. Best of all, Zach’s inspiring true story is told without any barrier or synthetic tropes. Zach’s gift was more than his music; what he really did was teach the world what a noble, beautiful inspiring way to die could be. Thankfully, his melodious voice still lives on.
3. Howard
PG, 1hr 34mins. Musical Documentary.
Starring Howard Ashman.
Legendary lyricist and artist Howard Ashman is more than worthy of a documentary, and this one is among the most soulful, spiritual and peaceful films of 2020. The movie covers his abrupt life (from 1950 to 1991) equally, going from his childhood to his WPA theatre company to legendary work at Walt Disney Studios.
Don Hahn’s feature film about the songwriter and dramatist is a cerebral success that, like Ashman himself did throughout his life, taught us the structure of emotion in art. That might sound complicated at first, but Ashman’s gift was taking complicated ideas in the necessary steps of making people care about a story, and then presenting them in a clear, entertaining way. In that way, the small screens of Disney+ is the perfect place to tell his story, not unlike the intimacy of storytelling like Howard’s early days.
Read Oakville News' original review of Howard here.
2. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
PG, 1hr 39mins. Comedy.
Starring Winslow Fegley, Ophelia Lovibond, Kyle Bornheimer, Wallace Shawn, Chloe Coleman and Craig Robinson.
If there’s a hidden gem on Disney+, it’s Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. This adaptation of a book about a young boy and his imaginary polar bear who open a detective agency in modern day Portland sounds like a strange follow-up for writer/director Tom McCarthy after winning Best Picture at the Oscars for 2015’s Spotlight. As it turns out, it’s the perfect story.
Winslow Fegley is razor-sharp as Timmy, and the humour is balanced to be equally funny for children and adults. Timmy’s quest to save Portland is charming, smart, and maybe not so imaginary. The final scene in particular shows the brilliance of his quest the whole time, and you can’t help but cheering for Timmy and his soon-to-be family to succeed. This is the best straightforward fiction and old-fashioned movie the streamer has to offer, and it’s a rare film that’s great for the whole family.
1. Hamilton
14A, 2hrs 40mins. History Musical Epic.
Starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Philippa Soo, Christoper Jackson and Renée Elise Goldsberry. Also starring Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Jonathan Groff.
What’s to say about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s masterwork that hasn’t already been said? It’s hard to encompass simply how magnificent and flawless his musical about the founding fathers truly is, but it truly is one of the most remarkable things ever written and staged. Best of all, the film captures its now legendary 2015 original Broadway cast in a simply flawless film.
Originally slated for a fall 2021 release, production was sped up for the 4th of July this past summer as Disney’s way of sharing something with the world amidst the ongoing pandemic. While it’s disappointing this may not get to see big screens, the film in just a few months has already become the most streamed movie of all time and with good reason.
Director of both the stage and film version Thomas Kail did a perfect job recreating of what it’s like to be in “The Room Where it Happens.” It seems like an obvious choice, but Hamilton truly is the best movie on Disney+.
Read Oakville News' original review of the Hamilton film here.
All movies are now streaming on Disney+ for subscribers. Oakville News also did a report earlier this year about other things to watch on Disney+ as part of our “What to Watch” series in March 2020.
Read more reviews and entertainment news @MrTyCollins on Facebook and Twitter.
