On any normal given day, Disney is a powerhouse of an empire. They’re responsible for giving the world some of its most beloved films with even more treasured characters and normally they are the best in the business. However, like any film studio, it doesn’t matter how much movie magic you have, it is all about the size of your audiences.
Disney has released hit after hit in its existence, but that doesn’t mean numbers don’t matter. Some of the most underrated films from the studio have lost out simply because of their competition. To show you exactly what we mean, have a look at ten Disney flicks overshadowed by other movies.
Oliver and Company (Land Before Time)
The ’80s were a great decade for kids’ flicks, weren’t they? With classics like Labyrinth, The Goonies, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, there was something for everyone. Even Disney had some of its biggest hits like The Great Mouse Detective and The Little Mermaid. But one man stood to give Disney some competition, and his name is Don Bluth.
Bluth was responsible for creating many animated classics, even with Disney, but it was The Land Before Time that stole the scene from Oliver and Company. A movie that was practically born out of ’80s culture just couldn’t hold a candle to kids’ never-ending love for dinosaurs.
Rescuers Down Under (Home Alone)
Where we could understand why Oliver and Company played second fiddle, The Rescuers Down Under is a criminally underrated film that should have been one of Disney Animation’s finest achievements. It had beautiful visuals and a fun and sweeping story, but it had one major flaw. It released dangerously close to Home Alone.
Don’t get us wrong, we completely and totally understand why audiences absolutely swarmed for Home Alone. Seeing Kevin McAlister bring the pain down on the bandits is practically a Christmas tradition. But Rescuers Down Under definitely should have done far better than it did. Thank Walt for Disney+, right?
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Independence Day)
Let’s get real for a minute, Disney had some crome-plated-guts to make this film, let alone release it. Known as perhaps the most adult animated film in their collection, Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame was mostly an overall success, but it’s mainly been kept alive through reputation. It was good, but it had some hard competition.
One of the biggest things that kept Hunchback from achieving 100% masterpiece status was a little film called Independence Day. The sci-fi action juggernaut undoubtedly has a place in the hearts of its fans, but as much as we love watching Will Smith kick massive alien butts, we’d rather hear the bells of Notre Dame.
Dinosaur (Mission Impossible 2)
Disney’s first attempt at CGI without Pixar was definitely an experiment we’re glad they tried. But when your film loses to a mixed bag like Mission Impossible 2, it might be time to rethink a few things. Dinosaur wasn’t exactly a Walt Disney Pictures brand masterpiece, but it could have beat this film if given better delivery/direction.
Despite the second entry in the Mission Impossible franchise being the highest-grossing film of 2000, it wasn’t exactly loved by all the critics. The plot is a bit mixed and overall it comes off as your standard Tom Cruise action film, but it still managed to demolish Disney when it came to the box office.
Treasure Planet (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Treasure Planet is a film seasoned fans have dubbed one of the most underrated animated features in all of Disney, and we can’t blame them. The idea of mixing Treasure Island with this retro-futuristic/future-punk design is definitely worth the praise and adoration it receives. That all being said, they still had to compete against the Boy Who Lived.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets came out within proximity of Treasure Planet and being the beloved series it was destined to be, it sank the beloved sci-fi treasure tale to Davy Jones’s locker. Thankfully, Treasure Planet has since achieved cult-film status.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Fast and the Furious)
In the world of the Disney Fandom, you’re either on team Treasure Planet or, like us, you prefer steampunk to space-punk with Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Easily Disney’s most under-watched and underappreciated traditionally animated film, Atlantis submerged because of poor marketing decisions. This led to it being beaten by not one, but several films, the most notable being The Fast and the Furious.
Though it isn’t the most genius of films, 13 entries in this series definitely establish it as a pop-culture mainstay. Though many thousands of fans would argue that Atlantis was the better written, scripted, performed, and created film, even we can’t deny the appeal of muscle cars and high-stakes heists.
The Princess and the Frog (The Blindside)
One of Disney’s last traditionally animated films, The Princess and the Frog, suffers from the misconception that it was the brief return to traditional animation that put the nail in the coffin for the design decisions of the studio. The New Orleans-set fairytale was beaten, not by an audience’s unwillingness to appreciate animation artistry, but affection for a deeply more dramatic film, The Blind Side.
The Oscar-winning, Best-Picture-Nominated drama film was definitely worthy of its accolades, but we still don’t mind showing appreciation for Tiana and her friends. It was a return to form for Disney that sadly just didn’t premiere at the right time.
Brave (The Amazing Spider-Man)
While we’re on the subject of Disney princesses, let’s talk about the princess from the “other studio.” Brave is Pixar’s first princess film, and certainly something surprising and different from the animation studio. It was fun, exciting, and endearing, but had to take a back seat to the return of a favorite superhero.
The Amazing Spider-Man was the first Spider-Man film since the Rami trilogy, so it makes sense that fans would flock to the reappearance of their favorite face of Marvel. Don’t get us wrong, Brave was still a success that ushered in Merida as Disney royalty. But honestly, which of the two characters is more recognizable or well-known?
Winnie the Pooh (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
You would have thought Disney learned their lesson with Chamber of Secrets, but nope. Once again, we find not only an impressive Disney flick decimated by J.K. Rowling’s golden child, but one of the most famous and marketable faces Disney has ever animated.
Yet another attempt from Disney to return to traditional animation, Winnie the Pooh definitely had the trimmings and trappings of a classic Disney animated feature, but couldn’t compete with the Potterheads to save its stuffing. Fortunately, Pooh is just as beloved as Harry and was able to bounce back faster than Tigger.
Cinderella (Frozen Fever)
Call it cheating, call it an honorable mention, but we’re definitely calling Disney out on this one. What does it say about your film when the most talked-about element isn’t its gorgeous design, its performances, or its presentation, but the short film that comes before the feature even begins? Frozen strikes again.
Frozen Fever makes our list because while the remake of Cinderella was the main feature, it’s this short that everyone remembers. Granted, the live-action-remakes from Disney have a certain stigma, but it didn’t start with Cinderella. We would be lying though if we didn’t suspect Frozen Fever as the element that got audiences in seats.
