Disney was a quintessential part of nearly everyone’s childhood. If you ask anyone what their favorite Disney movie is, you’ll probably be able to count on one hand who doesn’t have an answer for you… Even if you sometimes have to Google what they’re talking about. There are so many underrated Disney movies from our childhood and every time someone mentions one, they have to explain the entire plot and justify their reasoning for liking a movie made before 2005.

“Treasure Planet” is my all-time favorite movie. The animated movie came out in 2002, based on the 1883 book “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Following the story of 15-year-old Jim Hawkins as he searches for the planet of gold and jewels from the bedtime story his mother used to tell him, Treasure Planet. 

This movie has a well-developed cast of characters and a beautiful soundtrack written by James Newton Howard (who wrote the soundtracks for “Hunger Games” movies and the “Fantastic Beasts” duology). The animation style might be a little old school, an example of Disney’s transitional period between the traditional and newer animations. Though when combined with the hilarious dialog, the heartwarming father-son relationship between Jim and a member of the crew, Silver, the dynamic storyline, and the absolutely gorgeous theme for Jim “I’m Still Here” sung by founder and frontman of Goo Goo Dolls, it’s hard to go wrong.

This masterpiece of a movie is so criminally underrated with many people never even hearing of it despite the movie not being much older than the senior class. Another hidden gem in Disney’s collection is “The Great Mouse Detective”. This 1986 animated film, inspired by Sherlock Holmes, stands out for its unique storyline and characters. It’s a must-watch for any die-hard Disney fan. The plot revolves around Olivia Flaversham, a young girl from London, who seeks the help of master detective, Basil of Baker Street, to rescue her kidnapped father, a renowned toy maker, from a bat. 

This movie has the classic Disney art style of older movies, a style described as storybook realism, which has been all but lost in more recent animated films. The style features more prominent lines within the character movement and a less stark design difference between the characters and the backgrounds. This is something many animation enthusiasts have lost fascination with as higher-quality, higher-contrast animation has entered the spotlight.

Much like “Treasure Planet”, this movie has one of the best soundtracks of the older Disney collection. The instrumental scores in the background add suspense and emotion to the narrative, and the movie fits the classic Disney standard of the villain song being the absolute best song in the entire movie. Could a song called “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mastermind,” sung in a jazz club, ever be a bad song?

These are just two of the much longer list of underrated movies that Disney has produced, many featuring very similar features as these two masterpieces of cinema. So as the summer rapidly approaches, maybe consider adding some of the older movies you’ve never heard of to your pre-college movie binge.