I was originally only going to have a few people fill out a bracket but once people saw what was going on everyone wanted to get involved. So many people were coming up to my desk asking for a bracket that I had to go make copies three times. It was hilarious. Nothing gets the people going like a Disney debate. At one point we had a Super Bowl Champion and an Army Veteran discussing the pros and cons of Cinderella while two other unnamed bloggers debated the hotness of the Disney Princesses. (Pocahontas in a landslide BTW).

A lot of talk on Twitter over the #DefinitiveDisneyBracket challenge last night. Coley was up until the wee hours of the morning filling his out and to be honest I wasn’t going to say anything, but considering how preposterous his bracket was he left me with no choice. I’m not going to get into the fact that he had Wreck-It Ralph beating The Lion King, Aladdin, AND Toy Story on its way to the finals, that ‘Pooh’ got beat out by Ratatouille or that Zootopia made it to the sweet sixteen. To each their own. Besides, he told me he’s always been a ‘big ghoul guy’ so it makes sense that he likes the weird movies. So instead of lashing out in a Disney-induced fit of rage, I filled out my own, correct version of the bracket and had the other bloggers do the same.

There was some initial skepticism in terms of how the movies were seeded. I think mostly because it forced you to make tough choices early on, but overall the bracket made sense. The categories were Believe, Magic, Imagination, and Wish. Wish being the strongest and Imagination being the weakest IMO.

While the majority of people chose The Lion King, the routes they took to get there couldn’t have been more different. In other words, there were some questionable victories. I grouped the winners together in terms of popularity and ranked them according to my expertise.

First Place: The Lion King

It’s no surprise that the majority of participants chose The Lion King. In case you didn’t have a childhood or haven’t seen it, it’s the classic tale of a murderous uncle who frames his infant nephew for the death of his own father after being overcome by jealousy. It has something for everyone: romance, humor, life lessons, a revenge killing. It’s great. Ask ten people what their favorite Disney movie and nine of them will say The Lion King. Check out the bracket below.

Pat:

Liz:

Nate:

Fran:

Willie Colon:

Balls:

Cons:

Smitty:

Ria:

Feits:

Mikey Podcast:

Second Place: Aladdin

Keith & Hubbs

Like father like son, Keith and Hubbs both chose Aladdin as their champion. I thought maybe Hubbs had gotten wind of Keith’s choice and picked his accordingly but it was authentic. Regardless, you can’t argue with Aladdin. Jafar, Iago, Jasmine: it’s an all-time classic.

Keith:

Hubbs:

Third Place: Toy Story

Frankie Borelli

Frankie may as well have written his birthday and social security number next to his name because it tells you everything you need to know about him. He grew up in the mid-2000s, loves feel good Pixar movies and has a soft spot for the classics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Toy Story is a classic as is every other movie in his elite eight.

Fourth Place: Mulan



Tex

Obvious choice here for Tex. Him and Mulan share a number of traits. For starters, they’re both incredibly unathletic underdogs in need of a new haircut. They both have a warrior mentality. And they both have big hearts. Kind of surprised he had Dalmatians in his final four but I respect the choice. Again, you can’t go wrong with classics.

Fifth Place: The Incredibles

Bob Fox

Another on brand bracket. Bob LOVES super heroes so much I think he’s trying to become one. CC: his forearm. Moana is a strong choice for the elite eight as is Toy Story. I’m not going to say too much considering he’s a movie expert so, uh…nice bracket Bob?

Sixth Place: Finding Nemo

YPeach

YP’s bracket is like a road map to the inner workings of his brain. His final four consists solely of animal-related movies. Which makes sense considering he’s an avid outdoorsman. Would I have chosen a Finding Dory/Finding Nemo match up in the finals? No. But he did have Mulan in his elite eight and I can respect that.

Seventh Place: Wall-E

Devlin

I was sort of expecting Devlin to write in Batman. Not sure what happened there.

One Thousandth Place: The Sword in the Stone

KFC

To be honest I almost threw this bracket out. The Sword in the Stone is such a preposterous choice that I thought maybe he was trolling me. To place that movie in the same stratosphere as Aladdin, The Lion King, The Jungle Book, even The Fox and The Hound has me questioning everything I’ve ever known. I don’t have much to say other than this:

The craziest part is that he hit almost every region on the head except for the Believe Region. Strange stuff.

And there you have it. The definitive list of the best Disney movies of all time according to twenty of the most respected bloggers of all time. I would’ve liked to see Beauty And The Beast or the Jungle Book get a win but I understand why they didn’t. They don’t have enough of an ‘it factor’ to get them past the final four.

Honorable Mentions:

Peter Pan

Hercules

Jungle Book

Beauty and The Beast

Rescuers Down Under

101 Dalmatians

Note: I will be adding brackets in more brackets as they come. Thank you for your patience.