Top 5 most popular 90s Disney films

If there's only one thing any 90s kid will remember about, well, being a 90s kid, it's Disney films. Disney was going through some sort of super phase and managed to churn out tons of great animated cartoon films at exactly the right time for us 90s kids.

I've compiled a list of the most popular ones. However, please note that it's actually incredibly hard to find out what people's top Disney films are, so I went to wikipedia and found some stats on how well they did at the box office and in dvd sales, which more or less does the job.


5. Pocahontas (1995). All time worldwide box office revenue- $346,079,773.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Pocahontas had done so well. I certainly loved it anyway, it was my favourite Disney film as a kid. This story was very, very loosely based on the true events of the first English settlers who went over to America, clashed with the Native Americans and a guy and a girl from each side fell for each other. It's all a bit Romeo and Juliet and to be honest, probably too grown up for little kids, especially little boys. However, there's no denying that it's a magical story with stunning visuals and this is probably what captivated audiences then and continues to do so today.


4. Beauty and the Beast (1991). All time worldwide box office revenue- $424,477,231.

I'm not surprised at all that Beauty and the Beast has done so well. It's got all the right ingredients to make it as a successful Disney film: fairy tale plot, cute secondary characters, catchy sing and dance scenes. The story is set in olden day France and tells of selfless Belle who takes the place of her father under house arrest to 'the beast' and teaches him the error of his ways. It's really quite magical and has something in it that everyone in the family will like, which is always a bonus.


3. Tarzan (1999).  All time worldwide box office revenue- $448,191,819.

Does anyone actually remember Tarzan? No? Thought not. Well actually some of you younger folk might, or anyone that got dragged along to see it at the cinema with their kid brother/sister. On the whole I'm not really sure why it did so well. In fact I'm not even sure if I've seen it at all.






2. Aladdin (1992). All time worldwide box office revenue- $504,050,219.

I knew this would be high up on the list. I remember all the hype about it at the time and the fact that literally everyone was going to see it. I thought it was alright I suppose, nothing to write home about though. Except for one thing: Robin Williams. His voice work as the genie is possibly the best thing he's ever done. Along with that, the action and lamps and wishes and everything else makes Aladdin the second biggest hit.


1. The Lion King (1994). All time worldwide box office revenue- $951,583,777.

Now this was a movie. Obviously everyone thinks this too as it is by far the most popular Disney film of the 90s and probably all time. It's taken tons of box office money, won loads of awards and continues to be featured on hundreds of 'best of' lists today. It certainly pulled out all the stops: the legendary Elton John did all the music (who can forget 'Circle of Life'), and an A list cast including Woopi Goldberg, Matthew Broderick and Rowan Atkinson (aka Mr Bean) were recruited to do the voice overs. But it's the epic story that grabbed viewers attention the most. Who can forget the tale of Simba, the lion cub who was forced into exile while being tricked into thinking he killed his father by his evil Uncle. It really grabbed at viewers heartstrings and has earned its rightful place as the reigning number one on the list!

Honorable mentions go to-

The Little Mermaid (1989). All time worldwide box office revenue- $211,343,479.

I was shocked when I discovered The Little Mermaid didn't make as much as some of the others in the box office, so I'm including it in the honorable mentions section. It wasn't actually released in 1989 which means it isn't technically a 90s film, but no one cares about tiny little insignificant details like that. Any true 90s child will remember it and how good it was, so all go out and buy the dvd so we can increase its rating!


Toy Story (1995). All time worldwide box office revenue- $361, 958, 736.

It's not traditionally animated, which is why I didn't include it in the above list. However, I thought I'd include it now because you can't write a post about 90s Disney films without including Toy Story, it's just not right. It was of course an amazing film and featured two of possibly the best kids film characters ever, Woody and Buzz. It was also the first film to be made entirely using that fancy CGI stuff which every kids film seems to be made of now.