Concluding my countdown of favorite Disney Animation movies following my marathon viewing of all 64… you can see the full ranked list here.

My Top Ten Disney Animation Movies
#1 – Moana (2016)

Nobody who’s read this blog for any length of time will be surprised by today’s pick. After all, it was just four years ago that I named Moana my favorite movie of the 2010s, and I consider it among my top ten of all time. So yeah, it’s the best Disney animated movie.

I won’t go into detail all over again as to why that’s the case — I invite you to read the post linked above if you want to know my reasons. I’ll note that, according to my Letterboxd account, I’ve seen the movie six more times since writing that entry and it’s been equally brilliant every time.

Instead, please watch the short clip below and marvel at how beautifully it encapsulates everything great about Moana. This is the film’s finale, so if you haven’t seen the movie, be warned (and go watch it!).

First, there’s the music… a short reprise of a song featured earlier in the film. Performed by the song’s co-writers, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Opetaia Foa’i, ‘We Know the Way’ celebrates the adventurous voyaging spirit of Moana’s ancestors. It first shows up during a vision Moana has of those ancestors, and here it soundtracks her carrying on their legacy.

The brief sequence starts with a shot of Moana’s conch shell placed atop the stack of stones representing the island of Motunui’s chain of chiefs. Moana’s father tells her in an early scene that each of the island’s chiefs has added a stone, lifting Motunui and its people, and soon it will be her turn. (Incidentally, I love that Moana’s future chiefdom is just a given and not caught up in a struggle over gender roles).

While the story of the stones is inspiring, it’s also symbolic of how the island’s leaders have been set in their ways. It’s a rigid, inflexible monument to tradition. Moana, on the other hand, wants to explore the ocean and discover new lands and people. The shot of her colorful conch shell, a product of that ocean, atop the pile of stones is an exhilarating metaphor. And in a wonderful bit of camera movement, the shell obscures until the last minute the group of ships heading out to the open sea.

Next, we briefly revisit each of the film’s characters. First up is Moana, now a confident and proud leader. We then see her teaching her mother and father her wayfinding ways, showing that they are no longer an obstacle on her path but willing participants. We get a quick glimpse of Pua and Heihei, the adorable pig and chicken sidekicks.

Then Moana elegantly leans out across the water and runs her hand over its surface, as a manta ray — her grandmother’s reincarnated form — glides by. She watches it wistfully, thinking about the woman who supported her throughout her journey.

Finally, the demigod Maui, in eagle form, flies by, and we cut to a sweeping shot that glides across the ocean surface and settles on Moana’s triumphant face, followed by a smash cut to the movie’s title card.

It’s a perfect minute of film, and a stunning grace note in a movie filled with them. Talk about nailing the ending.

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My final Disney list is an acknowledgement that not all is well at the Mouse House. Before this year, the studio had produced only five theatrical sequels in 87 years. Follow-ups and spin-offs were relegated to the direct-to-VHS market.

As things stand right now, the animation division’s lineup includes last month’s Moana 2, then Zootopia 2 and Frozen 3 over the next couple of years. Let the cannibalizing begin! Instead of more original material like the great movies I’ve been discussing for the past two weeks, we’ll get rehashes of those movies until the cash dries up. Sad.

Moana 2, by the way, is terrible. Easily the worst theatrical sequel Disney has produced (so far). Here are my rankings of the rest:

Disney Animation – Sequels, Ranked

5. Fantasia 2000
4. The Rescuers Down Under
3. Winnie the Pooh
2. Frozen II
1. Ralph Breaks the Internet