The Best Animated Movies on Disney+ Hotstar

Disney puts its animation flavour onto the famous folk tale of a street urchin who disguises himself as a wealthy prince after finding a genie in a magic lamp, in an attempt to impress the Sultan’s daughter. Don’t bother with the 2019 live-action remake, also on Disney+ Hotstar.

A young mule deer comes of age in the forest with the help of his parents and friends: his pink-nosed rabbit, a skunk, and his childhood friend and future mate. Based on Felix Salten’s 1923 eponymous book. Considered one of Walt Disney’s finest achievements.

A 14-year-old robotics prodigy teams up with his closest companion, a robot called Baymax, and his friends — a comic-book fan, an adrenaline junkie, a laser-expert neatnik, and a chemistry whiz — to form a superhero team to take down a masked villain.

A young Mexican boy’s pursuit of music, in defiance of a family ban, transports him to the literal Land of the Dead, where he seeks his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer, to return home to the living. A Pixar film.

Hidden in the mountains of Colombia is a magical house that has blessed every child in the family with unique gifts — except one, Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). But when the house begins to crack in her visions, Mirabel decides that she must save the magic even though no one believes her. Original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with a couple going viral and topping charts.

There’s no overarching plot to this experimental feature that consists of eight segments, all animated to pieces of classical music. Features Mickey Mouse, dinosaurs, water sprites, dancing mushrooms, ballet-dancing ostriches, hippopotamuses, and alligators. A landmark of its time.

After his son gets abducted in the Great Barrier Reef, a meek overprotective clownfish (Albert Brooks) sets out to rescue him from Sydney, learning to take risks along the way with the help of a regal blue tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres).

Both a parody of and homage to Frankenstein, Tim Burton’s intentionally-black-and-white stop-motion remake of his 1984 short is about a boy who resurrects his beloved dog with the power of electricity, and then runs into trouble after the secret gets out.

In this deconstruction of fairytale tropes from the home of fairytale movies that’s inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen”, a fearless optimist princess sets off with a rugged iceman, his loyal reindeer, and a naïve talking snowman to find her aloof sister queen who’s accidentally trapped the kingdom in eternal winter. The 2019 sequel isn’t as good.

Wes Anderson’s ode to canine friendship was this stop-motion feature set in a dystopian near-future Japan where dogs have been quarantined following a canine flu outbreak, and follows a young boy looking for his dog. Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, others lend their voices.

Tricked into thinking he caused his father’s death, a lion cub runs away from home and grows up with a pair of carefree wastrels, only to be reminded of his rightful place later in life and why he must return. Don’t bother with the 2019 live-action remake, also on Disney+ Hotstar.

Hans Christian Andersen’s 19th-century tale about a young mermaid Ariel who makes a bargain with the sea witch Ursula and gives up her life in the sea to meet a human prince got the Disney animation treatment, which signalled the studio’s return.

Set in a fictional seaside town on the Italian Riviera, a sea monster boy — who turns into human while on land — spends a memorable summer with his two new best friends. A Pixar film that has more than a sprinkling of Hayao Miyazaki, while paying homage to a number of Italian filmmakers.

After a curse incurred by a legendary demigod (Dwayne Johnson) reaches her home-island, the titular daughter of a Polynesian village chief sets out to find him and a mystical relic that will make things right.

In a world where monsters must scare children they believe to be toxic to power their city, a very unafraid human girl upends the life of two such monsters — a giant furry one and his tiny one-eyed best friend — who must do their best to get her back without anyone noticing. From Pixar.

To save her weak father from conscription and death in a war, a young Chinese maiden disguises herself as a man in this Disney animated musical, with comedic relief provided by a small dragon. Don’t bother with the 2020 live-action remake, also on Disney+ Hotstar.

Made by a wood-carver and brought to life by a fairy, the titular wooden puppet must prove himself as “brave, truthful, and unselfish” to be a real boy, with the help of a cricket who serves as his conscience.

Forced into exile by her evil stepmother, the titular princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners in Disney’s oldest animated feature film. Includes a controversial kiss that involves a lack of consent, which parents might wish to talk about with their kids.

A middle-aged jazz schoolteacher (Jamie Foxx) must attempt to reunite his soul with his body after he is stuck in a strange land between Earth and the afterlife on the biggest day of his life. Tina Fey co-stars. From Pixar.

Locked up by her overly protective mother, a young long-haired girl finally gets her wish to escape into the world outside thanks to a good-hearted thief, and discovers her true self.

To keep a promise to his late wife, an elderly widower ties thousands of balloons to his house to carry him to the wilds of South America, unknowingly taking a young and earnest stowaway. From Pixar.

A video game villain sets out to fulfil his dream of becoming a hero but ends up bringing havoc to the entire arcade where he lives. Its 2018 sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, is also on Disney+ Hotstar.