Every Disney Movie From 2023, Ranked (2025)

2023 was not seen as a strong year for the Walt Disney Company. It was a year of underperformance as fans seemed to be demanding something fresh from the House of Mouse, leaving many marquee titles to come in well below expectations. Still, Walt Disney Pictures produced or co-produced 11 in-house movies last year, including reimaged classics like The Little Mermaid and a final outing for movie icon Indiana Jones.

Some of them were from the big-name franchises that everyone's heard of, while others dropped straight onto Disney+ without much fanfare. Many of these releases were underwhelming by most measures, but there is still a unique charm and polish to Disney movies that can make them a worthwhile watch.

11 Peter Pan & Wendy Was Another Live-Action Remake

Peter Pan & Wendy

PG

Fantasy

Adventure

Where to Watch

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Not available

Not available

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Director

David Lowery

Release Date

April 28, 2023

Cast

Alexander Molony , Ever Anderson , Joshua Pickering , Jacobi Jupe , Jim Gaffigan , Alan Tudyk

Runtime

106 minutes

Main Genre

Fantasy

One of Disney's most mixed endeavors over the last decade has been its live-action remakes of animated classics. Peter Pan & Wendy was the first of two such films to be released last year, this one being marketed as a major addition to Disney+; unfortunately, it would prove not to be the case.

Peter Pan & Wendy is a long way from a hopeless endeavor; Jude Law is delightful as a scenery-chewing Captain Hook, and seasoned director David Lowery is able to sprinkle some magic dust over the whole whimsical film. Where the film struggles, as so many live-action remakes have before it, is in separating itself from the original. There are hints at something more below the surface, but in the end, Peter Pan & Wendy is nothing audiences haven't already seen before.

10 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is a Lesser Entry in the Children's Franchise

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever

PG

Animation

Adventure

Comedy

Holiday

For Greg the winter vacations are going a little rough, after getting stuck with his family in the snow and worrying about getting the new console.

Where to Watch

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Not available

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Director

Luke Cormican

Release Date

December 8, 2023

Cast

Wesley Kimmel , Erica Cerra

Writers

Jeff Kinney , Kathleen Shugrue

Runtime

105 Minutes

Main Genre

Animation

Production Company

Bardel Entertainment, Titmouse, Twentieth Century Animation, Walt Disney Pictures

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is the ninth installment in the Wimpy Kid franchise and the third animated installment to be released under Disney. Dropping on Disney+ over Christmas, this adaptation from the Jeff Kinney books sees Greg trying to be good over Christmas in the hopes of getting the new game console that he's been asking for.

This is made more challenging when a giant snowman he's making rolls away down a hill and smashes into a snowplow. The film ends with the standard “giving is better than receiving” Christmas movie message and is perfectly serviceable in the canon of those films that stand before it, even if the hollowness of its animation may be off-putting for some.

9 Crater Introduces an Interesting Sci-fi World

See Also

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Crater

PG

Adventure

Drama

Family

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Director

Kyle Patrick Alvarez

Release Date

May 12, 2023

Cast

Isaiah Russell-Bailey , Mckenna Grace , Billy Barratt , Kid Cudi , Selenis Leyva

Runtime

95 Minutes

Main Genre

Adventure

Crater is a compelling and original sci-fi story lost in the shuffle during the Disney/Fox merger. Set on the Moon in the year 2257, It is set in a world where people must work in the mines for 20 years before being allowed to colonize a distant planet. After his father dies in a mining accident, Caleb and his friends steal a rover and set out on a journey to find a mysterious crater that his dad promises they'll visit one day.

Originally planned for a big-screen release from 20th Century Fox, Crater was moved around before eventually getting produced and ending up on Disney+ last year. It's impressive that a story of this scope can still work as a straight-to-streaming feature, but it's still left lacking. For the fun adventure film it so desperately wants to be, everything is played too seriously and dour.

8 Dashing through the Snow is a Twist on a Christmas Staple

Dashing Through the Snow

PG

Comedy

Fantasy

Holiday

A divorced social worker takes his daughter on a ride along with him on Christmas Eve.

Where to Watch

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Not available

Not available

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Director

Tim Story

Release Date

November 17, 2023

Cast

Ludacris , Teyonah Parris , Lil Rel Howery , Mary Lynn Rajskub , Kevin Connolly , Oscar Nunez , Ravi Patel

Writers

Paula Pell , Scott Rosenberg

Runtime

1 Hour 32 minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Production Company

Walt Disney Pictures, Smart Entertainment, Will Packer Productions

Another Disney+ Christmas movie, Dashing Through the Snow, sees Ludacris and Lil Rel Howery take an unorthodox approach to a classic Christmas story. Ludacris plays Eddie, a man jaded with the whole idea of Christmas despite his young daughter's enthusiasm. That, of course, slowly begins to change when he catches Howery's Santa Claus coming down his chimney.

The two leads work as a commendable double act, injecting life into what would otherwise be a rather flat production. The story of a jaded man learning to believe in the power of the holiday season is well-trodden ground at this point, but the creators of Dashing Through the Snow at least deserve credit for taking the idea in a new and more diverse direction.

7 World’s Best Brings Together Rap and Math

World's Best gives a modern twist to the tried and tested Disney coming-of-age movie but still follows the same format as all that has come before it. The film follows Prem, a gifted 12-year-old who lost his father and takes high-school mathematics. He dreams of winning the mathlympics, but after his mother tells him a story about his dad's rapping, his dreams begin to shift.

Prem starts seeing his dad in a ghostly form and dreams of the two appearing on stage, rapping together. These are the most tender parts of a film that otherwise just plays to the expected beats. Charming enough with a warm message at its heart, World's Best lacks the highs, lows, and complications that characterize this genre at its best.

6 Wish Celebrated 100 Years of Disney

Wish

PG

Adventure

Comedy

A young girl named Asha wishes on a star and gets a more direct answer than she bargained for when a trouble-making star comes down from the sky to join her.

Where to Watch

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Not available

*Availability in US

Director

Fawn Veerasunthorn , Chris Buck

Release Date

November 22, 2023

Cast

Chris Pine , Alan Tudyk , Ariana DeBose , Evan Peters

See Also

Every Disney Movie Of 2023 So Far, Ranked By Box Office - Looper

Writers

Jennifer Lee , Allison Moore , Chris Buck

Runtime

1 Hour 35 Minutes

Main Genre

Animation

Production Company

Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures

The first film on this list to have received a theatrical release, Wish, was meant to be the film that celebrated 100 years of Disney animation. Set in a magical Kingdom where King Magnifico grants the wishes of his people once a year, a young girl called Asha rebels when she learns that Magnifico only grants wishes that maintain the status quo.

Asha's adventure starts when she makes a wish upon a star; it descends as a ball of light and uses its magic to help her overthrow the king. Wish is a flagship Disney Princess musical, but unfortunately, it spends too much time planting Easter eggs to the studio's past to forge its own way forward.

5 The Little Mermaid Was Faithful to a Fault

The Little Mermaid (2023)

PG

Musical

Family

Fantasy

Adventure

A young mermaid makes a deal with a sea witch to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress a prince.

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Director

Rob Marshall

Release Date

May 26, 2023

Cast

Halle Bailey , Jonah Hauer-King , Melissa McCarthy , Javier Bardem , Daveed Diggs , Jacob Tremblay , Awkwafina

Writers

Jane Goldman , David Magee , Rob Marshall

Runtime

135 Minutes

Main Genre

Animation

Production Company

Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions, Marc Platt Productions, The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Studios

Disney's second live-action remake of 2023 was The Little Mermaid, another adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, which was first animated by Disney in 1989. Ariel is a young mermaid princess who is so fascinated with the surface world that she makes a deal with the sea, which Ursula uses to trade her voice for a pair of human legs.

Halle Bailey is captivating in the lead role, and the live-action remake is perfect at recapturing all the great moments from the original. Yet, as glamorous as The Little Mermaid is, that's ultimately all it ends up being: a glossy imitation of something that was already beloved. A fun experience but not one that adds to the animated film that already exists.

4 Haunted Mansion Takes the Audience on a Ride

Haunted Mansion

PG-13

Drama

Family

A single mom named Gabbie hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian to help exorcise her newly bought mansion after discovering it is inhabited by ghosts.

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Director

Justin Simien

Release Date

July 28, 2023

Cast

Jamie Lee Curtis , Winona Ryder , Rosario Dawson , Tiffany Haddish

Writers

Katie Dippold

Runtime

2 hours 3 minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Production Company

Walt Disney Productions, Canadian Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC), Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)

Based on the Disneyland ride, Haunted Mansion attempts to provide a fun, spooky adventure with all the right ingredients. After moving into her dream house with her son, Gbbie quickly realizes the place is infested with spirits and recruits a motley crew of supernatural investigators to help rid her of her unwanted inhabitants.

Much like the ride, Haunted Mansion wants to take its audience on a true adventure with spooky thrills and light scares. The ensemble it brings along for the ride has all proven funny and talented in the past, and though the tone of the movie may shift, the cast still delivers fun and funny moments.

3 Chang Can Dunk Puts a Spin on a Well-Worn Genre

The underdog sports story Chang Can Dunk offers a surprising and refreshing twist on what could easily be a straightforward Disney high-school basketball film. The film follows a directionless teenager, Chang, who decides to commit to his great passion for basketball in order to win a bet and earn the respect of a girl he has a crush on.

From there, everyone will think they know where the story is going, and for the most part, they're right. However, Chang Can Dunk accelerates its climax to the middle of the film, leaving room for an ending that--while not revolutionary--adds depth that helps it stand out from its class.

2 Elemental is a Bold if Simple Pixar Effort

Elemental

pg

Animation

Adventure

Comedy

Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, earth- and air-residents live together.

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Director

Peter Sohn

Release Date

June 16, 2023

Cast

Leah Lewis , Mamoudou Athie , Catherine O'Hara , Ronnie del Carmen , Wendi McLendon-Covey

Writers

Brenda Hsueh , John Hoberg , Kat Likkel

Runtime

93 Minutes

Main Genre

Animation

Production Company

Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios

Producer

Denise Ream

The latest effort from Pixar animation, Elemental, imagines a world where sentient elements live together in a grand metropolis segregated along elemental lines--with fire at the bottom of the social ladder and water at the top. A rather obvious allegory for real-world prejudice and immigration stories, Elemental follows Ember, a young and hop-tempered fire girl who is eager to forge her own path in life, though her father, who traveled from their home country to grow, has other plans.

When a water leak threatens her family shop, as well as the whole of Fire Town, she teams up with city inspector Wade--a water element--to solve the mystery. Filled with fun background humor and Pixar's trademark polish, one of Elemental's biggest downfalls is that its world isn't as rich or story as nuanced as the earlier Disney effort, Zootopia.

1 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Bid Farewell to a Classic Hero

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

PG-13

Adventure

Action

Fantasy

Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history.

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Director

James Mangold

Release Date

June 30, 2023

Cast

Harrison Ford , Antonio Banderas , Boyd Holbrook , Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Runtime

2 Hours. 34 Minutes

Main Genre

Adventure

Production Company

Walt Disney Pictures, Lucasfilm, Paramount Pictures

The latest and final entry in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, saw Harrison Ford pick up the whip and fedora for one last ride. After an opening during the war, Dial of Destiny flashes forward to the 1960s. Jones is tracked down by his goddaughter and pulled back into the game for one last adventure.

Dial of Destiny is rocky, to say the least, especially since the franchise hasn’t been revisited since 2008. yet even at his advanced age, Harrison Ford still proves to be a scene-stealing movie star, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge is witty and charismatic enough to keep him on his toes. It's a film that shows Indy still has it and brings an end to his adventuring career.