All 56 Walt Disney Animated Classics: Ranked From Worst To Best

39. Bolt (2008)

Bolt often gets unfairly lumped in with the likes of Chicken Little and Meet The Robinsons, but it's actually far superior. The fact that it was the first computer generated animation to be overseen by the genius of John Lasseter helps the cause wonderfully, as he brings his trademark charm and several of Pixar's essentials too.

It does still feel a little like it's trying to find its feet and trying to carve out a space for Disney's 3D animations that isn't just copying Pixar, but in terms of advancing the Disney brand, Bolt arguably did even more than Frozen. It was a mender and a reminder that the studio was still capable of spinning wonderful yarns with cute characters, moral integrity and entertainment.

And it's perhaps best considered as an enthusiastic puppy, not yet disciplined enough or quite sure of itself, but it's definitely worth spending some time with.

38. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

People legitimately hate Atlantis, and it's entirely unfair. The film was both brave and beautiful, with a gloriously pulpy aesthetic and an adventurous spirit that was just too alien for Disney fans brought up on myths, legends and fairy tales. That is no reflection on the quality of the thing, particularly in terms of its visuals.

As with anything classified as "an experiment" for Disney, Atlantis was always facing an uphill battle for relevancy or acknowledgment, and there's definitely a note of stubbornness to its current 49% Rotten Tomatoes rating. People don't like change.

That review score is needlessly reductive however: it misses the vision of the thing, a steam punk, classical science fiction that defied the Pixarification of animation to rely more heavily on the outstanding ideas of Hellboy creator's Mike Mignola. Sure, there are problems (and it's hard to consider Atlantis as a true Disney classic), but it's a hell of a thing on its own terms.