Every Disney Movie in the ‘Renaissance Era’ In Order
If the words “Renaissance Era” conjures images of Beyonce and Taylor Swift, there’s a chance you didn’t grow up with Disney in the 1990s.
This understandably lofty phrase is sometimes used to describe the incredible run of work that Walt Disney Animation Studios released from 1989 to 1999 — a period that reestablished the House of Mouse as a commercial behemoth and the industry standard for animated features once again.
Starting with The Little Mermaid in 1989 and ending with Tarzana decade later, just as Pixar and computer animation was becoming the dominant force, these ten movies pushed the boundaries of the artform while gobbling up awards, banking enormous amounts of cash at the worldwide box-office, and leaving a cultural impact that can still be felt today. They also, it’s fair to say, changed a lot of peoples’ lives. Read on to discover more and use the guide below to find where to stream them.
The ‘70s and ‘80s were a strange time for Disney, as cost-cutting measures had led to a clear drop in quality — many of the films were still hits, but the move away from hand-drawn animation resulted in a less aesthetically pleasing style. Thanks to early advancements in computer animation (many developed at Pixar), The Little Mermaid felt like both a step forward and a huge return to form.
Reclaiming the clean lines of earlier Disney, The Little Mermaid won the studio its best reviews in a generation and managed to crack the box-office top ten for that year (placing ninth with a substantial $184m). It also helped that the movie — basically a cartoon version of the Undine myth, aka: Splash – was a musical, and one with the kind of catchy tunes (like Under the Sea) that have kept audiences coming back to it for decades.
The Rescuers Down Under might be the least well known of the Disney Renaissance movies, but if (like me) you happened to have the VHS when you were growing up, you probably watched it 100 times. If you haven’t, the movie is an action-packed sequel to a 1977 adventure movie about two members of the Rescue Aid Society, a group of mice (with an office in the walls of the UN) who save abducted children — I mean, what’s not to like?
The second instalment follows our heroes to Australia, where they plan to save a boy from an evil poacher with the help of a local hopping mouse named Jake. It’s especially notable for being the first feature film to be created digitally — which probably explains how they pulled off this incredible opening sequence.
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If anyone looking at the modest box-office of Down Under at the time started to think that The Little Mermaid was a false dawn, 1991’s Beauty and the Beast probably calmed their nerves. This gorgeous, sweeping (if slightly problematic — which might explain the recent news about a Gaston spin-off) retelling of the classic French novel boasts some of the best Disney songs (Be My Guest, Tale as old as Time), some of the most stunning animation, and even has Angela Lansbury playing a teapot.
If you’re only familiar with the 2017 live-action version, I’d highly recommend going back to watch this one. There’s a reason why it became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars — and the only one to do so on the old five film ballot.
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After Beauty and the Beast, Disney was on a roll. 1992’s Aladdin might not have wooed the Academy in quite the same way as its predecessor, but it stormed the global box-office, earning half a billion USD in ticket sales to become the highest-grossing film of the year.
Based on an Arabic folktale, the story is a classic hero’s quest that follows the titular street rogue as he discovers a magic lamp, befriends a genie, and tries to make a princess fall in love with him. The movie is probably best known for Robin Williams’ incredible voice work as the genie — and if you appreciate him in Good Will Hunting or Dead Poet’sSociety, it’s well worth going back to give this one another shot.
The same goes for the music: the gorgeous central love ballad, A Whole New World, was the only Disney song to reach number one on the Billboard charts until Encanto’s We Don’t Talk About Bruno managed the same feat in 2022.
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Having released the previous four films in November, Disney decided to switch to the summer tentpole season for their next effort — and oh my, did it pay off. The Lion King didn’t just perform better than Aladdin, it would have been the highest-grossing film of all time had a little thing called JurassicPark not been released the year before.
The movie, a surprisingly faithful retelling of Hamlet set in the Serengetti, follows a lion cub named Simba who is betrayed by his uncle Scar (deliciously voiced by Jeremy Irons) and must go into exile before returning to challenge him. Again, if you’ve appreciated the recent live-action version, it’s so worth going back to revisit this one — not least for those rousing Hans Zimmer moments.
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It’s unfortunate that Pocahontas has become synonymous with the white saviour narratives we thankfully try to avoid these days — those faults aside, it’s actually a stunningly animated movie with its own fair share of beautiful songs.
On the other hand, I do hold it against this movie that Colors in the Wind beat Randy Newman’s You’ve Got a Friend in Me to the Oscar for Best Original Song — but I guess I can let bygones be bygones. Whatever the case, if you can get over some awkward stereotypes, the movie, which is based on a true story, has a lot going for it — and if you love this one, try Terrence Mallick’s 2005 masterpiece The New World (which works different kinds of wonders with the same source material) as a chaser.
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Looking at the Disney Renaissance, it’s probably fair to say that the movies peaked around the early to middle part of the decade — both in quality and cultural dominance. The computer generated techniques that they’d helped to pioneer began to take over in the second half of the ‘90s — notably with the release of Toy Story in 1995, a film that changed the world in its own way.
1996 also brought Space Jam and the wonderful stop motion animation, James and the Giant Peach. This all makes The Hunchback of Notre Dame look a little undercharged, especially compared to the other movies on this list, but the movie was still a hit and is still a delight to watch — especially for fans of Demi Moore (The Substance), who voices Esmerelda, and Tom Hulce (who played the title role in Amadeus) as Quasimodo.
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If you were a fan of anime in ‘97, you could have gone to a cinema and seen movies like Princess Mononoke, Perfect Blue and the first Evangelion — notbad. You could have also gone to see Hercules, a hugely entertaining Disney romp that seamlessly combined Greek mythology and ancient art with the signature Mouse House style.
This is one to watch if you are interested in that period of history or like the idea of seeing Disneyfied versions of movies like Troy and Clash of the Titans. Bonus points for that incredible vocal work from James Woods as Hades.
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Featuring The Forbidden City, The Great Wall and animation flourishes based on ancient Chinese art, 1998’s Mulan saw Disney attempt to do for ancient China what Hercules had done for Greek antiquity — and it really paid off.
The results are a gorgeously rendered, action-packed adventure with a story based on an ancient Chinese folk tale, but one that will feel familiar to most viewers regardless — especially if you enjoy movies like Pixar’s Brave of Raya and the Last Dragon.
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As Pixar ascended at the end of the decade (Toy Story 2 was released in 1999), 2D animated movies began to go out of fashion (at least in terms of blockbuster appeal), but alongside Brad Bird’s wonderful The Iron Giant, Disney managed to round out their celebrated decade with a warmly remembered adaptation of another classic tale.
1999’s Tarzan is the Disney film to watch if you appreciate the 2016 live-action version, but more so if you like the excellent Brendan Fraser comedy, George of the Jungle.
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