Since launching in November 2019, Disney+ has become an unequivocal powerhouse. In just a couple of years, the company’s direct-to-consumer platform has become a key destination and early leader in the ever-intensifying streaming wars. Disney+ is full of buzz-worthy series and original films, alongside all of your favorite Disney animated and live-action classics, plus films from Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, and all of the goodies acquired in the Fox acquisition. And if you're looking for films you can't find anywhere else, you've come to the right place. Here are the best original movies on Disney+ available to stream right now.
For more recommendations, check out our list of the best shows and movies on Disney+.
Editor's note: This list was updated May 2023 to include Prom Pact.
Better Nate Than Ever (2022)
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Run Time: 1 hr 31 min | Genre: Musical Comedy | Director: Tim Federle
Cast: Rueby Wood, Joshua Bassett, Aria Brooks, Lisa Kudrow, Norbert Leo Butz
It’s never easy when you don’t feel like you fit in, and adolescence is the worst. When Nate (Rueby Wood) isn’t cast in his school show, he has the brilliant idea to take a bus from Pittsburgh to NYC to audition for a new Broadway show instead. It’s an insane plan that can only be pulled off with the help of his best friend, his quirky aunt, and his reluctant brother. It is chock-full of Broadway cameos and so full of heart that you can’t help but smile. Better Nate Than Ever is about as Disney as it gets with some fun musical numbers to boot. - Jennifer McHugh
Prom Pact (2023)
Run Time: 1 hr 39 min | Genre: Romance Comedy | Director: Anya Adams
Cast: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Milo Manheim, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Margaret Cho, Chelah Horsdal
Prom Pact is an adorable romantic comedy that delightfully pays homage to the golden age of high school romance: the 1980s. Written by Anthony Lombardo and directed by Anya Adams, Prom Pact stars Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.) as an ambitious highschooler determined to achieve her goals but ultimately becomes embroiled in a classic love triangle with her her best friend Ben (Milo Manheim) and the school jock: her nemesis, Graham Lansing (Blake Draper). Overflowing with cute, corny cliches and a brilliant supporting cast that includes Margaret Cho and Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs), Prom Pact leans into clear John Hughes vibes with a modern twist. – Yael Tygiel
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)
Run Time: 1 hr 43 min | Director: Anne Fletcher
Cast: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo
The Sanderson Sisters are back in Hocus Pocus 2! Reprising their roles from the original movie are Bette Midler as Winifred, Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah, and Kathy Najimy as Mary. After revealing a piece of their origin story, Hocus Pocus 2 mostly takes place in modern-day Salem, where a couple of teens, played by Whitney Peak (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and Belissa Escobedo, accidentally bring the witches back from the afterlife. Reuniting with Billy Butcherson, allowing Doug Jones (Star Trek: Discovery) to reprise his beloved performance, Hocus Pocus 2 serves up nostalgia while adding layers to the cherished mythology set forth in the first film. – Yael Tygiel
Noelle (2019)
Run Time: 1 hr 40 min | Genre: Christmas Fantasy Comedy | Director: Marc Lawrence
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Billy Eichner
Likely designed to be the next Santa Clause, Noelle sees Anna Kendrick play Noelle Kringle, Santa’s daughter who is desperately trying to help her brother Nick (Bill Hader) take over Santa’s responsibilities following his untimely death. But Nick decides to run away, hiding out in photogenic Phoenix, Arizona. Kendrick is good at playing incessantly chipper types and has fun with the role alongside a supporting cast that includes Shirley MacLaine, Michael Gross, Billy Eichner, and Julie Hagerty. Written and directed by rom-com veteran Marc Lawrence, Noelle is an instant holiday classic.
Artemis Fowl (2020)
Run Time: 1 hr 35 min | Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy Adventure | Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Josh Gad, Tamara Smart
Based on a best-selling series of YA books by Irish author Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl is set in a world where a technologically advanced fairy tale world, full of elves, dwarves, and assorted creatures exists just beneath us. The film explores what happens when precocious child prodigy Artemis Fowl II (Ferdia Shaw) discovers that his father has a) been kidnapped and b) is renowned as a master thief stealing priceless antiquities from both the human and fairy tale world. (Big day for him.) Kenneth Branagh directs a lively cast, including Josh Gad – a standout as a digging dwarf and our erstwhile narrator who brings a nice about of energy and fun.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020)
Run Time: 1 hr 39 min | Genre: Sci-Fi Adventure Fantasy Superhero | Director: Anna Mastro
Cast: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Niles Fitch, Isabella Blake-Thomas, Olivia Deeble
Basically, Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is the first Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) made specifically for Disney+. It has all of the established hallmarks of a DCOM classic, including a cast full of familiar Disney Channel faces (in this case led by Peyton Lee from Andi Mack). Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is set in a mythical European country where royal kids attend a tony boarding school. During a summer school class, it’s revealed that the second-born kids in royal bloodlines are born with extraordinary superpowers, and a boyish Professor X (Skylar Astin) teaches them how to use them to foil an evil plot. If you’re a fan of the new classic Descendants or throwback Princess Protection Program, you’re sure to love this one, too.
Black Beauty (2020)
Run Time: 1 hr 50 min | Genre: Adventure Drama Family | Director: Ashley Avis
Cast: Kate Winslet, Mackenzie Foy, Claire Forlani, Iain Glen
An international co-production that was picked up by Disney after the fact, Black Beauty is beautiful, affecting, and entertaining. A fresh adaptation of Anna Sewell’s 1877 novel of the same name, it follows the titular horse (whose inner narration is voiced by a surprisingly game Kate Winslet) and the young girl who connects with her (Mackenzie Foy from Disney’s Nutcracker and the Four Realms). The drama is punctuated by some surprisingly unsettling scenes of animal cruelty (like when Black Beauty is sold to a little rich girl who doesn’t understand the power or soul of the horse) and some moments that are genuinely transportive, like a scene of the young girl riding Black Beauty along a beach.
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020)
Run Time: 1 hr 25 min | Genre: Animated Musical Adventure Sci-Fi Comedy | Director: Bob Bowen
Cast: Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Jon Colton Barry, Jim Bernstein
Disney+’s first animated original feature returns to the world of Phineas and Ferb, the hugely popular series that ran on Disney Channel and Disney XD for nearly a decade (from 2007 to 2015). In Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, the precocious brothers’ perpetually put-upon older sister Candace (Ashley Tisdale) takes center stage as she is abducted by space aliens and lands on a planet whose leader (voiced by Ali Wong) treats her like a princess. Meanwhile, the boys (Vincent Martella and David Errigo Jr.) team with the villainous Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (series co-creator Dan Povenmire) to figure out what happened to Candace and return her to earth. If you appreciate the original series, then chances are you are going to love the movie, which continues the show’s mixture of silly songs, science-minded adventures, and occasionally groan-worthy humor (creators Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh co-wrote the screenplay).
Magic Camp (2020)
Run Time: 1 hr 40 min | Genre: Fantasy Comedy Family | Director: Mark Waters
Cast: Adam DeVine, Jeffrey Tambor, Gillian Jacobs
Magic Camp is a cute and funny little gem that features Adam Devine as a magician who gave up on his dream but is recruited by a former mentor (Jeffrey Tambor) to serve as a camp counselor at the Institute of Magic, a summer camp for budding magicians. Magic Camp clearly takes its cues from other misfits-make-good favorites, most noticeably The Bad News Bears and School of Rock, and while the stuff with the kids is pretty pat (aside from a story about a young magician who lost his father), Levine elicits some genuine yuks, and director Mark Waters, who directed Mean Girls and the Freaky Friday movie, keep things moving at lively pace. Fun fact: the story is based on an original story by Steve Martin, who performed magic at Disneyland early in his career.
Godmothered (2020)
Run Time: 1 hr 50 min | Genre: Christmas Fantasy Comedy-Drama | Director: Sharon Maguire
Cast: Isla Fisher, Jillian Bell, Jane Curtin
Godmothered is sort of the perfect Disney+ movie – agreeably low stakes, adequately shot, and warmly humored. In Godmothered, the very funny Jillian Bell plays a fairy godmother who makes a desperate bid to answer the wish of a young girl before her enchanted realm gets turned over to tooth fairies. But the letter she’s answering turns out to be very, very old and the young girl she attempts to help out is actually a frazzled adult woman (Ilsa Fisher). From there, things get really wacky, with jokes you can probably imagine involving a fairytale makeover of Fisher’s home, wardrobe, and life (big ups to the raccoon that attempts to clean the kitchen). Clearly borrowing DNA from both Disney’s Enchanted and the Christmas classic Elf, Godmothered is charming and funny, thanks to spritely direction from Bridget Jones’s Diary director Sharon Maguire and outstanding, wholly committed performances from the two leads. (Jane Curtain and June Squibb pop up as older fairy godmothers, and they make the most of their brief screen time.) There’s even a case to be made as Godmothered being a Christmas movie (it’s not explicitly Christmas-y but is set during the season), which means that it could sneak into your annual slate of favorites.