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Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Walt Disney Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Belle is a brainy beauty from a small village who desires a life beyond the provincial domesticity that’s expected of young women. When a horrific man-beast abducts her father, she bargains with the monster to take his place. As Belle settles into the Beast’s palatial castle — filled with a friendly staff of anthropomorphic furniture and glassware — she discovers that her captor and his servants owe their present state to a cruel curse.
If the Beast can give and receive true love from another, the spell will be lifted, but his irascible nature makes this quite the challenge. Beauty and the Beast is arguably the crown jewel of Disney’s golden age circa the late ’80s and early ’90s. Fun fact: this movie was so well-received that it became the first animated film to earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination. —Devin Nealy
Where to watch Beauty and the Beast: Disney+
EW grade: B
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Cast: Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach, Richard White, Angela Lansbury, David Ogden Stiers, Rex Everhart
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Christine Parry/Fox Searchlight
This coming-of-age soccer movie (or, rather, football in England, where it’s set) catapulted Keira Knightley to movie star status, but it’s Bend It Like Beckham’s cultural perspective and commentary that truly make it special. The story follows Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), a teen girl obsessed with soccer (and with David Beckham, who gave the film permission to use his name because he wanted to promote girls’ soccer). Feeling suffocated by her strict Indian parents and their hope that she’ll someday become a homemaker and devoted wife, Jess secretly joins a soccer team and must juggle responsibilities for both her family and her coach (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).
The film resonates with anyone who knows the acute angst of pretending around loved ones to be someone they’re not. The result is director Gurinder Chadha’s supremely watchable sports film about gender, culture, sexuality, diversity, and love — and it’s a touching one to boot. —Ilana Gordon
Where to watch Bend It Like Beckham: Disney+
EW grade:Â A
Director:Â Gurinder Chadha
Cast:Â Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Juliet Stevenson, Shaznay Lewis, Archie Panjabi
Big (1988)
Everett Collection
Josh Baskin can’t catch a break. All our diminutive 12 year old protagonist wants is to be “big,” and after plugging a quarter into a creepy fortune-telling machine, his dream comes true. The following morning, Josh doesn’t only wake up in a larger body but a significantly older one as well (that of Tom Hanks).
The transformation thrusts him headfirst into adulthood, sending the naive pre-teen on a literal coming-of-age journey that emphasizes the old maxim: Be careful what you wish for. Revisiting director Penny Marshall‘s whimsical classic will be a treat for parents, but Big‘s true genius is how it allows children to vicariously live out the universal fantasy of becoming a grown-up. —D.N.
Where to watch Big: Disney+
Director: Penny Marshall
Cast: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Robert Loggia
Coco (2017)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
This modern Pixar classic boasts a dazzling aesthetic, complete with skeletal characters that are never too spooky for younger children. Our young hero, Miguel, loves two things: music and his family. Unfortunately for him, the former is banned in his home, and his grandmother breaks his guitar after discovering his passion for the forbidden art.
Distraught over the incident, Miguel visits the grave of his favorite musician, Ernesto de la Cruz, on the Day of the Dead. After strumming Ernesto’s guitar, Miguel ventures into the Land of the Dead, where he learns the truth about his dearly departed relatives. Coco‘s breathtaking character designs are the primary standout in this affecting, mystical romp while honoring the traditional iconography of Mexican culture. —D.N.
Where to watch Coco: Disney+
EW grade: B+
Director: Lee Unkrich
Cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael GarcÃa Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Edward James Olmos, Ana Ofelia MurguÃa
Cool Runnings (1993)
Everett Collection
Following his failure to qualify for the 100-meter race at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, Jamaican sprinter Derice Bannock (Leon Robinson) scrambles to find a new path toward athletic glory. In a desperate attempt to keep his dream alive, Bannock tries to build Jamaica’s first Olympic bobsled team — despite the country’s year-long tropical climate. To help bring his vision to fruition, Bannock enlists the aid of former bobsled champion Irving Blitzer (John Candy), who tarnished his reputation by cheating years prior. The two then begin to recruit a ragtag team of misfits as they all try to make history and a name for themselves.
With a breezy 98-minute runtime, Cool Runnings possesses a surprising emotional depth that balances perfectly with its humor and charm. —D.N.
Where to watch Cool Runnings: Disney+
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Cast: John Candy, Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, Rawle D. Lewis
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) is an arrogant narcissist who is utterly oblivious to reality outside his lavish castle. Hoping to usurp him from the throne, Kuzco’s advisor, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), cooks up a plot to poison the puerile figurehead.
However, her lovable lunkhead of a servant, Kronk (Patrick Warburton), gives the emperor the wrong vial of poison and turns him into a llama. After narrowly avoiding the assassination attempt, Kuzco befriends one of his subjects, Pacha (John Goodman), who aims to aid the fallen royal in regaining his humanity while simultaneously teaching him some humility. —D.N.
Where to watch The Emperor’s New Groove: Disney+
Director: Mark Dindal
Cast: David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, Wendie Malik
Enchanted (2007)
Everett Collection
Giselle (Amy Adams) is the quintessential animated maiden, with a song in her heart and true love on her mind. As she starts to approach her highly coveted “happily ever after” with the dashing Prince Edward (James Marsden), the tyrannical Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) sends the princess from the two-dimensional land of Andalasia to the real world of New York City. After befriending her polar opposite in a divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey), Giselle begins to adapt to the big city lifestyle — until her friends from home come to call.
Twenty-first-century Disney films with a metatextual lens on the studio’s own classics have become a subgenre of their own, but few do it as saliently as Enchanted. This movie is required viewing for anyone who knows their princess mythos inside and out. —D.N.
Where to watch Enchanted: Disney+
Director: Kevin Lima
Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Covey, Timothy Spall
Finding Nemo (2003)
Disney/Pixar
Go under the sea with Pixar and discover the joys of Finding Nemo, the story of a missing fish and the neurotic father determined to bring him home. After clownfish Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) loses his wife, he is left alone with his son, Nemo, a young fish with a busted fin. Marlin vows to keep Nemo safe, but he can’t protect him from a youthful rebellion that causes Nemo to get swept off into the ocean, presumably gone forever.
Marlin teams up with Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), a blue tang fish with a short-term memory problem. Together, the fearful Marlin and forgetful Dory attempt to navigate the Coral Sea off Australia’s coast to bring Nemo home. Teeming with eccentric characters, vibrant colors, and heartwarming family comedy, Finding Nemo is premium Pixar. —I.G.
Where to watch Finding Nemo: Disney+
Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, Bill Hunter
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