Walt Disney Movies 1937-1967

Walt Disney (1901-1966)

Walt Disney (1901-1966)

Want to know the best Walt Disney movies?  How about the worst Walt Disney movies?  Curious about how much Walt Disney movies grossed at the box office?  Or which Walt Disney movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Walt Disney movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which one got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

A few years ago my favorite mother-in-law suggested that I do a movie page on all the live action Disney movies.  A quick check on IMDb showed a mind boggling amount of Disney movies…so I put that request off to the side.  Well fast forward the tape a few years…..I was at my local library and I found a book called The Disney Films by Leonard Maltin. In that book, Maltin looked at the movies made during Walt Disney’s tenure.  So following Maltin’s approach I have done an Ultimate Movie Rankings page on the 86 full length Walt Disney movies made from 1937-1967.  That should sort of satisfy my mother-in-law’s request.

His IMDb page shows 657 producing credits and 120 directing credits from 1921-1969. This page will rank 86 full length Walt Disney movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts and some of his documentaries were not included in the rankings.  After the massive Walt Disney movie table there is a section of Possibly Interesting Facts About Walt Disney.
Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews in 1964's Mary Poppins

Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews in 1964’s Mary Poppins

Walt Disney Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Walt Disney Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Sort/rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort by Walt Disney movies by star of the movie or by type of movie.
  • Sort Walt Disney movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Walt Disney movies by yearly adjusted domestic box office rank
  • Sort Walt Disney movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Walt Disney movie received.
  • Sort Walt Disney movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Walt Disney Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses

Greer Garson and Fred MacMurray in The Happiest Millionaire (1967)...the last movie Walt Disney movie.

Greer Garson and Fred MacMurray in The Happiest Millionaire (1967)…the last movie Walt Disney movie.

Possibly Interesting Facts About Walt Disney

1.  Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois
 
2.  In 1928 Walt Disney released the animated short, Steamboat Willie.  This was the first appearance of Mickey Mouse.
 
3.  Walt Disney holds the record of winning the most Oscars® with 22 wins in competitive categories.  He holds the record for consecutive years to win an Oscar®.  He won an Oscar® every year from 1934-1940….that’s seven years.  He almost duplicated that record when he won an Oscar® every year between 1951-1956…that was ONLY six years.
 
4.  A crowded trophy case.  To go with his 22 Oscars® wins…Walt Disney also received four honorary Oscars® and three Golden Globe® awards.  Walt Disney was nominated for 59 Oscars® in many different categories.
 
5.  When Walt Disney would visit his animators at work…the animators would whisper the code “Man is in the forest” to let everybody know that Walt Disney was nearby.  This was of course a reference to the classic movie Bambi.
 
6.  When looking at the all time adjusted box office gross champs….Walt Disney was involved in 8 of the Top 50 movies of all time.  #10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, #11 101 Dalmatians, #22 Fantasia, #25 Mary Poppins, #30 The Jungle Book, #31 Sleeping Beauty, #39 Pinocchio and #48 Bambi.  Those 8 movies have a combined adjusted domestic box office gross of $5.37 BILLION.
 
7. In 2013 Tom Hanks played Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks.  Hanks is actually a distant relative of Walt Disney.
 
8.  Walt Disney favorite Disney movies?Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi and Mary PoppinsThe song “Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins was his favorite song.  He considered it to be a perfect summation of the spirit of his company, and why he created Walt Disney Pictures in the first place.
 
9. Walt Disney and his urban legends. The first Walt Disney urban legend is that he had his body cryogenically frozen. The second Walt Disney urban legend is that he was buried somewhere on the grounds of Disneyland.  Both urban legends are completely untrue….or maybe….
 
10.  While researching this Walt Disney page….I discovered two awesome websites on Disney films. 
 
Anybody wanting more detailed information on any movie listed in my table…..just follow this link….The Disney Films.  If you are interested in movie posters then this site is the one for you…Steve Lensman’s Disney Movie Posters. Check out Walt Disney‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.

24 thoughts on “Walt Disney Movies 1937-1967

  1. My favourite Disney film as a kid was the mystery THE MOON SPINNERS, with Hayley Mills and Peter somebody? I was mesmerized.

    1. Hey Scott….Peter McEnery, and Eli Wallach was also in the movie with Hayley. Peter later starred in Walt’s The Fighting Prince of Donegal

      As for Moon-Spinners …it was Walt’s 59th biggest box office hit….the 25th biggest box office hit of 1964 and it got the 51st best reviews of all the Walt Disney movies

  2. Excellent work Bruce, this must have taken ages to compile. Will there be a part 2, movies made after Walt’s death? Let’s see I’ve seen… 42 of the 86 films you’ve listed here, most of them on DVD and Blu-ray. Mary Poppins no.1 on the moviescore, one of the most popular family films of all time. Good to see Snow White topping the box office chart, the film that started it all. I remember seeing The Jungle Book on cinema re-release in the 70’s and 20,000 Leagues too, that was re-released after Jaws came out with a big shark prominently featured on the poster in front of the Nautilus. Fantasia tops your critics charts, one of my favorites watched it many times over the years in fact I’ve written a hub about it at our old website. Thanks for the link amigo and keep em coming.

    1. Hey Steve….I am sure I will get to a 2nd part…maybe 1967 to 1980….my personal peak Disney watching years….The Love Bug movies, Kirk Russell’s Dexter Riley movies, Gus, and the Apple Dumpling Gang movies. I remember when I thought Tim Conway and Don Knotts were the funniest men on the planet. 42 movies seen I am impressed…..you blew my tally count away. I am at 14 and almost all of them were the animated classics. Glad to see you are using the sort/rank button it makes these tables a lot more fun to look at. I will have to revisit your Fantasia page….hope people check out your Disney poster page…..thanks as always for checking out my latest page.

  3. Growing up as a kid, holiday time really meant Disney time for me at the local cinema. My first Disney feature was Peter Pan at Easter 1967. Wow, the feeling of seeing them flying over London was just incredible. Captain Hook and Mr Smee, they were just so funny. I then seen Bambi, loved the first half up to the death of his mum and then not as keen on the second half.
    Lady and the Tramp would probably be my favourite, the opening scene of the town at Christmas with the snow was just magical.
    Jungle Book, what can I say about King Louie, he was just so cool. And Shere Khan was one of the great villains, tremendous voice of George Sanders.
    Cinderella, the fairy god mother scene was just unforgettable.
    Snow White had some good songs but wouldn’t be a favourite.
    Alice in Wonderland was great, loved the Queen of Hearts and the Walrus and the Carpenter.
    Pinocchio would probably be his greatest feature and also his darkest.
    Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent undoubtedly Disney’s greatest villain.
    101 Dalmations, Jasper and Horace were just so funny.
    Sword and the Stone had its moments but lacked a real villain and edge to the story.
    The Aristocats was his last feature and it was a good show.

    I’m sure by now you can see that I’m a real Disney fan haha. Growing up in a small town with not much money, Disney provided the ultimate escape. He was a real magic in my life. Great page btw.

    1. Hey Chris…..I agree you are a real Disney fan. I remember seeing Robin Hood when I was about 7 or 8. I got to go by myself…..it least without a family member….as I with a friend and his mom….I felt like such a grown up….lol. I am glad Disney provided you the ultimate escape. I think he did that for lots and lots of people…..and still does today. Thanks for sharing such awesome memories…of Disney, his movies and your childhood. Thanks for the compliment and the visit.

    1. Thank you Jaclyn…..glad you like it. It was a pain to research but I am happy with the end result.

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