With so many excellent Disney movies, it can be hard to find something to watch. There are just so many choices, especially when it comes to Disney Classics.
Some of the classics are far better than others, and some have stood the test of time far better than others. You want something that is entertaining for the kids, but you also want to teach them some good lessons and you want something that they can come away from with positive experiences.
Of course, Disney has always been excellent at making us cry! So, make sure you have the Kleenex ready for these five must-watch Disney Classics with the kids.
Mary Poppins
Let’s start with one of the best Julie Andrews’ movies out there. Sure, Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent is still absolutely terrible, but the movie as a whole is entertaining, offers some great life lessons, and has music that your kids will love singing along to.
The movie follows the Banks family, who is looking for a nanny for their two children. In comes Mary Poppins, who literally blows away the competition. She has some strange ways to raise children, but she manages to turn them into courteous and well-behaved children. It’s all set in the early 1900s, so we get the Suffragette movement mixed in with some absolutely outlandish people.
Dumbo
Do you want a feel-good story that also has a few strange elements? Dumbo is a must. This is all about an elephant with huge ears who becomes the laughingstock of a circus. After a disastrous event, he ends up escaping the circus and learning that he may or may not be able to fly.
With a mouse as a best friend and coach, this young elephant learns that you can do something if you believe in yourself. The question is whether he can be reunited with his mother.
Fox and the Hound
This Disney Classic is certainly one of the most heartbreaking, but it’s also an important one for kids to watch. It follows Tod, an orphaned fox who is taken in by Widow Tweed. He befriends Copper, the neighbor’s hound dog, and they end up becoming inseparable. That is until Copper’s master demands that Copper kill Tod. After all, he is a hunting dog!
As the two grow up, they realize that they are natural enemies. Can they overcome their differences and keep their friendship alive, or will nature take over?
The Rescuers
How about a story of two mice who head out on a journey to save a young girl? It’s easy to forget The Rescuers is a Disney movie, but it is one of the best. Young Penny manages to get a message to The Rescue Aid Society for help. She’s being used by kidnapper Madame Medusa to get a gem, and it’s up to Bernard and Bianca to free her from Madame Medusa’s clutches.
This is a perilous journey, and the mice team up with an airsick albatross named Orville and a determined but struggling dragonfly named Evinrude. It’s a wonderful story of creatures sticking together so that good can prevail.
Homeward Bound
This 1993 Disney Classic was based on the 1963 movie The Incredible Journey, and it follows the journey of three pets who end up accidentally separated from their humans. The Seavers family leaves Chance, Shadow, and Sassy at a friend’s ranch while they head out on vacation. The three pets fear that they have been left for good, so they decide to head out on a journey back home.
It’s a story of courage, love, and togetherness as these three animals, one of them an aging Golden Retriever, get out back home. They don’t understand everything that is going on, often putting themselves back in trouble, but hope prevails.
Get the tissues ready for these Disney Classics. They’re worth the tears to show the kids the true meaning of Disney movies.