The Disney Vault Is Open

For decades, many classic Disney films have been hard to come by, safely stowed away in the Disney Vault.

With the idea of gradually introducing its films to new generations, Disney released these to home video on a seven-year cycle. If you didn’t grab your copy of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or The Little Mermaid, you had to wait until the next round.

Disney+ changes all that. For the first time, countless classics are available to stream with a tap. Here are just a few you can watch right now (with many more coming soon).

‣ Walt Disney was reportedly 15 years old when he resolved to bring the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale to the silver screen. Twenty years later, it became his first full-length animated film, one whose songs, characters, and colors are just as bewitching as they were in 1937.

Fun fact: The film received a special Academy Award in 1939 consisting of one full-size Oscar and seven smaller ones.

‣ With its mix of cutting-edge animation and classical music, Fantasia is unlike anything else in the Disney catalog. The dramatic and soaring “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” remains the signature piece, but sections dedicated to “The Nutcracker Suite,” “Ave Maria,” and “The Rite of Spring” still enchant.

Fun fact: When Fantasia debuted in 1940, a full production of The Nutcracker ballet had yet to be staged in the United States.

‣ At the time, Bambi was a departure for the studio: Its tone was a little more serious, and because its characters were all animals (unlike Dumbo and Pinocchio, which preceded it), animators spent a great deal of time studying animal movements and behaviors. Bambi remains one of the sweetest titles in the Disney universe.

Fun fact: There are only about 1,000 words of dialogue in the film.

‣ Following the success of Cinderella in 1950, Walt Disney wanted to bring Sleeping Beauty to the silver screen in epic form. The result remains one of the signature achievements of Disney animation, full of rich characters, lush settings, and the definition of a fairy-tale ending. “Sleeping Beauty,” Walt said in 1959, “is the most beautiful film we have ever made.”

Fun fact: Briar Rose/Princess Aurora appears in fewer than 18 minutes of the film’s 76-minute run time.

‣ Walt was quite the dog lover, so it’s no surprise this classic comedy-meets-spy-thriller still feels so special. 101 Dalmatians was also a technical challenge. According to Disney, nearly 6.5 million spots dance across the film’s 113,760 frames.

Fun fact: In the classic “Twilight Bark” sequence, characters from Lady and the Tramp, including one lady in particular, make cameo appearances.

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