All 52 Walt Disney Animated Classics: Ranked From Worst To Best

45. The Three Caballeros (1944)

A more or less sequel to Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros is another package film, this time as a trip through Latin American (much like its predecessor). Unlike the other package films, though, this one has a unifying theme that goes a long way to keeping you interested. The titular titled tune starring Donald Duck, Panchito Pistoles, and José Carioca is the most memorable part of this film that has somewhat seeped its way through history.

This movie was part of a good will message to South America, which gives it a rather interesting origin story. And despite the reasoning behind Disney making most of its underwhelming package films, the quality does not seem as economical-inclined as it did with the others.

44. Make Mine Music (1946)

Another package film, what do you know? How did this one nudge ahead of the others, then, since they all are the last to be mentioned even by the hardest of Disney fans? Much like Fun and Fancy Free, this movie is so lost to time that after watching it I still called it by the wrong name. Make Mine Music just does not sound grammatically correct to me.

Regardless of the title, a lot of the segments in this film have actually have made their way through Disney history, such as Peter and the Wolf and The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at The Met. That seems fair, since they are fairly entertaining and distinctive. But that does not mean that this film is one of Disney's best: far from it, actually.

43. Fantasia 2000 (1999)

I wrote in a recent WhatCulture article that Fantasia 2000 did not seem to have a purpose for its creation, but after further review I find actually myself thinking on the contrary. The sequel to Disney's classic Fantasia does, in fact, hold its own - with amazingly performed music, a rich story animated with both computers in the traditional sense, it deserves a nod and a thumbs up after the hard fought battle Walt's nephew, Roy E. Disney, made to create this film.

Falling right out of touch with the famous Disney Renaissance, Fantasia 2000, while mildly successful, begun a trend of mild-to-near flops for Disney animation until The Princess and the Frog in 2009, however.

42. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

One of only three official sequels in the animated canon (if you do not count The Three Caballeros), The Rescuers Down Under makes a decent case for its membership within the canon of 52 movies. Felt to be slightly underappreciated due to its humor and surprisingly intriguing story, that is still not enough for Bernard and Bianca to match the power that was The Little Mermaid before it.

But many do at least consider it an improvement over the original. When I was doing research for this article, I discovered why one of my personal favorites is not better known - it opened against the highest-grossing film of 1990, Home Alone. Down Under was an unfortunate victim of an improper release date, but at least it does show that the sequel curse does not affect all follow-ups.

41. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

A mouse version of Sherlock Holmes, this film is where the list starts to mention some films that you may recognize a bit easily, but not so much. The Great Mouse Detective actually has a pretty stable fan base, a small one, but at the very least it exists. This film sits right on the edge of the Disney Renaissance that began with The Little Mermaid two films later.

But this movie did enough after the failure of The Black Cauldron to reignite faith in the animation department by executives to keep going, thus bringing us some of the most beloved movies of all time in the coming decade. With good animation, unexpected suspense, and lively characters, it was a breath of fresh air for Disney since the last decent hit, The Fox and The Hound.