Disney does Dickens in this animated version of Oliver Twist, in which a homeless New York City cat falls in with a bunch of mischievous dogs under the leadership of the appealing scoundrel Fagin. The roots of Disney's success with animation in the '90s begins with this clever, energetic, atmospheric movie, which succeeds in capturing the grim world Dickens conjured. Lyricist Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid) worked on the songs, the best of which is sung by Billy Joel, who provides the voice of (the Artful) Dodger. —Tom Keogh

Solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fable about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a call to arms goes out to every village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts the call. Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to challenge society's expectations (being a bride). She steals her father's conscription notice, cuts her hair, and impersonates a man to join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the other soldiers with some help from her sidekick, Mushu, a wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon faces the Huns eye-to-eye to protect her Emperor.

The film is gorgeous to look at, with a superior blend of classic and computer-generated animation. Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook make the best of it: a battle in the snowy mountains is as thrilling as the best Hollywood action films. The menacing Huns are not cute but simple and bad. The wickedness is subtle, not disturbing. The film is not a full-fledged musical, as it has only five songs (the best, "Be a Man," is sung during boot camp). Eddie Murphy is an inspired choice for the comic-relief dragon, but his lines are not as clever as Robin Williams's in Aladdin. These are minor quibbles, though. The story is strong, and Mulan goes right to the top of Disney animated heroines; she has the right stuff. —Doug Thomas

Disney's direct-to-video sequel to their 1995 hit places Pocahontas in harm's way in London, where she is almost tossed into jail and has some other mishaps. She's not alone, however: a cute raccoon named Meeko does a nice job as the obligatory funny animal. The songs are about as memorable as those in the first film, but the art and animation maintain far higher standards than most animated sequels dumped onto tape. If you don't drive yourself nuts thinking about the appalling historical revisionism at work here, this is passable family entertainment. —Tom Keogh

The folks at Pixar can do no wrong with Monsters, Inc., the studio's fourth feature film, which stretches the computer animation format in terms of both technical complexity and emotional impact. The giant, blue-furred James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (wonderfully voiced by John Goodman) is a scare-monster extraordinaire in the hidden world of Monstropolis, where scaring kids is an imperative in order to keep the entire city running. Beyond the competition to be the best at the business, Sullivan and his assistant, the one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), discover what happens when the real world interacts with theirs in the form of a 2-year-old baby girl dubbed "Boo," who accidentally sneaks into the monster world with Sulley one night. Director Pete Doctor and codirectors David Silverman and Lee Unkrich follow the Pixar (Toy Story) blueprint with an imaginative scenario, fun characters, and ace comic timing. By the last heart-tugging shot, kids may never look at monsters the same, nor artists at what computer animation can do in the hands of magicians. —Doug Thomas

Though promoted as a "full length holiday movie," this is more of a TV Christmas special spinoff from Disney's new series, House of Mouse. The premise is something like an animated Muppet Show: Mickey, Goofy, and Donald run a nightclub for an audience of Disney characters, with plenty of songs, skits, and cartoons. There's not much story to this holiday special—Mickey whips up an impromptu party for stranded guests and instills a "Humbug"-quacking Donald with the holiday spirit—but it's full of sight gags and comic bits with dozens of Disney characters, from Ludwig von Duck to Pumba and Timmon. The special begins with the short Pluto's Christmas Tree and ends with the entire 1983 short film Mickey's Christmas Carol. However, the highlight is a comic retelling of The Nutcracker with Donald as a reluctant Mouse King (complete with phony Mickey Mouse ears) and John Cleese as the exasperated narrator. The special is utterly unmemorable as a whole, but nonetheless bright, light, and cute and sure to keep the attentions of young tots. —Sean Axmaker

If you think a gaggle of big-screen goons like Cruella, Jafar, and Captain Hook can muscle Mickey off Disney's House of Mouse stage, guess again. Here, the leader of the pack proves he's made of more than Swiss cheese in a Halloween battle to bounce the bad guys—banded together for the first time—from the belly-laugh-generating hot spot where he pulls host duties. Best of all, the classic-character misadventures keep rolling amid the maelstrom: Donald gets the short end of the broom when a busybody witch blows in, Goofy bungles a once-in-an-afterlife time shot at being a ghost, etc. By the time the mouse houselights go up, the evil cadre's out on its cartoon ear with only a song—the showstopping "It's Our House Now!"—to its credit. The hospitality's not so hot, but the frantic, feature-length dice of shorts and devious doings will find Disney devotees dancing in the aisles. —Tammy La Gorce

Max Keeble's junior high career is off to an inauspicious start: one bully chucks him in a dumpster, another tormenter takes his friends' money, the ice cream truck guy is after him, and the self-serving principal is after everyone who stands in the way of his budget-draining football field plans. But his family's sudden plans to relocate give him the moxie to stand up to his foes in a big way. This kid revenge fantasy results in gags like a squirrel in the principal's pants and a cafeteria-wide food fight. Of course, Max (Alex D. Linz) doesn't move, forcing him to take responsibility for his actions, or this wouldn't be a Disney film. The broad humor is clearly meant for preteens, but crude jokes, bullying, and sexual innuendo (thus the PG rating) make it inappropriate for younger kids, leaving it for the narrow age range of about 8 to 12. —Kimberly Heinrichs

This is another collection of Disney shorts set to music, but this time the formula works. That's predicated on the inherent strength of the individual pieces and almost all of them come through. Surprisingly, two American folk heroes, Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill, are the stars of this show, with rousty little tunes, humor, and compelling linear story lines (a rarity in most of these shorts). Even the shorts that are weak in one area, thematically or musically, make up for it in another. There's very little of the Disney animators attempting to be 1940s modern, thank goodness, and there's a sterling quality in the depth of the art work. A definite plus to an animation (or Disney) collection. —Keith Simanton