The Best Disney Movies Of The Past Decade: A Year-by-Year Breakdown

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Disney consistently releases a lot of films every year, making them a major player in the industry. While they’re famous for their animated classics, Disney actually owns several different studios. This makes it challenging to determine their best movie of any given year.

Disney releases films through several studios, including Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures. For the last ten years, Disney has consistently produced a wide range of popular and highly-regarded movies, from action-packed superhero films and beloved animated features to award-winning dramas.

2016 – Zootopia (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2016 was a surprisingly successful year for Disney movies. Several of their releases, including Finding Dory, The Jungle Book, Captain America: The First Avenger, Moana, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, earned close to or over $1 billion at the box office.

Several films were strong contenders for the best of the year, but Zootopia ultimately stands out. This animated movie from Walt Disney Animation Studios takes place in a city inhabited by animals with human characteristics. The story follows a determined rabbit who achieves her dream of becoming a police officer and teams up with a sly fox to uncover a hidden conspiracy within Zootopia.

Zootopia was a huge hit, earning over $1 billion and receiving praise from critics. It’s rare for a film to win the top animated feature award at the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Annie Awards, and Zootopia achieved this. The film excels in many areas, boasting beautiful animation, a talented voice cast, and a compelling story.

2017 – Coco (Pixar Studios)

Okay, so 2017 was another great year for Disney, though maybe not quite as huge as 2016. As a Marvel fan, I loved seeing three awesome movies – Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Thor: Ragnarok – and then you had the big successes like the live-action Beauty and the Beast and Cars 3 bringing in tons of money at the box office. It was a solid year for them, honestly.

Pixar’s Coco, also released in 2017, stands out as the best film of the year. It tells the story of Miguel, a boy who journeys to the Land of the Dead to find his ancestors and ask them to end his family’s ban on music.

Pixar continued its successful run with the critically acclaimed film Coco. It received incredibly positive reviews, boasting a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and won two Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. The film’s stunning animation was also recognized with 11 Annie Awards. Coco remains popular today, and a sequel is currently being made.

2018 – Avengers: Infinity War (Marvel Studios)

As a big movie fan, I have to say 2018 was a bit of a mixed bag for Disney. Some of their releases, like A Wrinkle in Time and Solo: A Star Wars Story, really didn’t perform well at the box office. Thankfully, huge hits like Incredibles 2, Black Panther, and Ralph Breaks the Internet saved the year and made it a success overall.

Everyone had incredibly high expectations for Avengers: Infinity War. It needed to successfully combine characters from over a dozen films, introduce a compelling new villain, and create a cohesive story. Marvel Studios delivered, and the result was truly something special.

The movie earned over $2 billion and its surprising ending has become widely recognized in popular culture. While Avengers: Infinity War didn’t have quite the same cultural effect as Black Panther, it’s a remarkably well-balanced film with almost non-stop action, making it a truly great movie.

2019 – Avengers: Endgame (Marvel Studios)

2019 was largely dominated by the massive success of Avengers: Endgame, making almost any other Disney release secondary. While films like Captain Marvel, Toy Story 4, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Frozen II performed well, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker proved divisive among fans of the series.

Luckily, Avengers: Endgame lived up to the hype. The three-hour movie featured the remaining heroes from the previous film teaming up for a time-traveling mission. This adventure celebrated the entire history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as they worked to restore their fallen friends and defeat Thanos for good.

Avengers: Endgame was a massive hit, earning over $1 billion worldwide in its first weekend. It felt like a satisfying conclusion to more than ten years of Marvel Cinematic Universe storytelling. The franchise hasn’t quite reached that same level of success since then.

2020 – Hamilton (Walt Disney Studios)

Man, 2020 was rough, not just for me, but for Disney too. The pandemic just shut everything down – all the movie theaters, everywhere! It really messed things up for releases, and honestly, Disney’s biggest movies that year ended up being Onward, Mulan, and Soul. It’s a shame, but you could definitely feel the impact of everything going on.

Although Pixar had some great films, Disney’s release of Hamilton was particularly remarkable. The musical, which tells the story of Alexander Hamilton through hip-hop, has been incredibly popular since its 2015 debut.

This film brought the stage show to audiences who couldn’t see it live, featuring the original cast. Just like the Broadway production, it received rave reviews and was nominated for numerous awards. To this day, Hamilton is still incredibly popular on Disney+.

2021 – Encanto (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2021 saw a recovery for cinemas as they reopened and many previously postponed movies were finally released. Disney had a strong year with popular and well-received films like Cruella, Raya and the Last Dragon, Luca, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, West Side Story, and the Fear Street trilogy.

As a total movie buff, I have to say, Encanto really stands out, even with so many great films coming out. It’s this beautiful story from Disney about the Madrigals, a magical family in Colombia. Everyone in the family has a gift… except for Mirabel, the main character. But when the family’s magic starts to fade, it’s actually her who has to figure out how to save everything, which is just a really heartwarming and engaging story.

Critics loved Encanto, and it was a huge hit with children too. After playing in theaters, it quickly became one of the most-watched movies on Disney+, and many people consider its songs to be among the best in any Disney film – that’s saying something!

2022 – Avatar: The Way Of Water (20th Century Studios)

Wow, 2022 was such a wild year for Disney! They really threw a lot at us, from the mind-bending craziness of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to the heartwarming Turning Red. And it wasn’t just those, we also got Fire Island, the surprisingly tense Fresh, and the seriously creepy Barbarian. Plus, they released some other great stuff like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Menu, and The Banshees of Inisherin – it felt like there was something for everyone!

After more than ten years, the highly anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, finally arrived and didn’t disappoint. The film, a follow-up to James Cameron’s massive hit, exceeded expectations and even earned over $2 billion at the box office.

Avatar: The Way of Water built upon the first film by showcasing a different Na’vi clan. The movie was visually stunning, especially the underwater sequences which were truly amazing to see on the large screen. It was a remarkable cinematic experience.

2023 – Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (Marvel Studios)

As a movie fan, it was a bit of a mixed bag for Disney in 2023. Some of their biggest titles, like The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and even the new Indiana Jones film, just didn’t seem to connect with audiences. Surprisingly, Disney’s smaller, more unique releases really shined – I loved films like Rye Lane and Theater Camp, and Poor Things absolutely deserved its Oscar win. It just goes to show that sometimes, a smaller, more focused story can really resonate.

Both Poor Things and Pixar’s unexpectedly popular Elemental were strong contenders, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ultimately stood out. The film beautifully concluded the story of the Guardians, delivering the signature humor and action fans expect from director James Gunn.

The movie’s heart came from exploring Rocket’s backstory, and it nicely wrapped up the stories of characters like Gamora, Nebula, and Drax with satisfying endings. Ultimately, it delivered exactly what fans were hoping for.

2024 – Inside Out 2 (Pixar Studios)

As a huge Pixar fan, I was really starting to worry there for a bit. But honestly, things feel like they’re back on track now! Elemental was a good start, but Inside Out 2 totally blew me away – it made over a billion dollars and everyone loved it. It just proves Pixar still knows how to make magic happen.

In 2024, Disney released a number of successful films and series, including Deadpool & Wolverine, A Real Pain, Alien: Romulus, A Complete Unknown, and Moana 2. These projects were all well-received, either by critics or at the box office.

However, Inside Out 2 successfully captured that feeling of growing up. The movie follows Riley as she navigates the challenges of being a teenager, and brilliantly portrays the overwhelming experience of anxiety.

2025 – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)

2025 proved to be an uneven year for Disney. Films like Captain America: Brave New World, Snow White, Elio, and Tron: Ares didn’t perform well, but Avatar: Fire and Ash, Predator: Badlands, and Lilo & Stitch were successful. Thunderbolts didn’t make much money at the box office, but critics liked it, and Zootopia 2 achieved both commercial and critical success.

Honestly, while everyone’s talking about the big Disney releases, I think their best film of the year is a smaller, really interesting one. It’s called Rental Family, and it came out through Searchlight Pictures. The story centers around an actor in Tokyo who’s having a tough time, and he ends up taking a job where he essentially becomes different people for strangers – he plays roles in their everyday lives. It’s a really unique concept!

Brendan Fraser delivers a truly remarkable performance in this role. He powerfully portrays a man juggling multiple complex relationships – a husband supporting a woman fleeing her family, a friend caring for someone with dementia, and a father figure to a daughter he didn’t raise – creating scenes that are both compelling and deeply moving.

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2026-03-07 18:52