The Five Best Disney Documentaries on Disney+ Ranked
You might have tuned into Disney+ because you wanted to watch some of your favorite Disney movies. However, once there, you find out Disney+ actually has some incredible documentaries chronicling the history of the Disney company that you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere (for free on streaming). With that being said, these are the five best Disney documentaries on Disney+ ranked from great to greatest.
5. Prop Culture
Plenty has been said about the things that go into movies, like the music and filming. But how often do you think about the props? The costumes, the figurines, and every little detail that goes into making those things as real and true as possible. Prop culture tells the behind the scenes story of some of our favorite films through the lens of the props that made them more real.
4. The Boys
The Sherman Brothers are the most prolific songwriting duo in film history. However, despite their fantastic successes, they didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye. And that’s putting it mildly. In reality, their relationship was more antagonistic than brotherly.
This documentary, produced by the sons of the Sherman Brothers, seeks to tell their unique and fantastic story while also trying to understand what could drive two brothers to such great heights, and yet so far away from one another.
Not only does this documentary boast a solid story, it’s got some pretty great graphics and digital art and guest commentary from big names, making it a pretty high class feeling documentary.
3. Frank and Ollie
The Frank and Ollie story is sort of the antithesis of the story of “The Boys”. Whereas working together professionally eventually drove the two Sherman brothers apart, the opposite is true for Frank and Ollie.
Friends since their college days at Stanford, Frank and Ollie lived together, learned together, and eventually worked together at Disney, creating some of the most memorable characters in cartoon history.
After they got married, the two actually bought a duplex together so they could continue living nearby, and then eventually bought themselves plots of land on adjacent lots. They were friends, and their wives were friends. And they remained that way through old age.
Although they were fundamentally different people and approached the creative processes differently, their differences ultimately complimented one another, and helped them create better work.
Although less modern than some of the other documentaries on this list, the hopeful story of the two friends at the center of this narrative, as well as their incredible role in the history of Disney, makes this one of the best Disney documentaries out there, period.
2. Waking Sleeping Beauty
While Frank and Ollie were responsible for some of the most classic animated features of all, eventually they would have to pass that torch off to a new, younger generation of animators. However, once they got that torch, those younger animators didn’t at first know what to do with it.
After a few flops, a restructuring of upper management would eventually lead to the rise of a new and even greater Disney Animation.
This documentary is created entirely out of archival footage, making it feel much older than its 2009 release date would imply. However, the story is told so well that you don’t really care about wether the footage is old or brand spanking new. You get a first hand view at every aspect of the Disney Renaissance in the 80’s and 90’s, from the animator’s desk, all the way up to the CEO’s office.
If you are going to watch all the rest of the Disney documentaries on this list, I would suggest ‘Waking Sleeping Beauty’ as the perfect launching point.
1. The Imagineering Story
The imagineering story might be one of the best produced documentaries I’ve ever seen, period. It’s totally modern, compelling, and tells the story of a group of people and a world of creativity that you would otherwise never have access to.
The imagineers are the people who create the things that you actually see and interact with at the Disney Parks, including their rides.
Through the story of the imagineers, we also get a great overview of the entire history of Disney, from the early days with Walt, up through current times.
To me, the best episodes are those that cover Michael Eisner during his time as CEO of Disney, showing the Disney Parks’ greatest highs – in the creation of the ornate Disney Land Paris – to it’s deepest lows – the misstep that was the original incarnation of California adventures and the underwhelming Disneyland Hong Kong.
