Ladies, gentlemen, children, animals, babies, robot overlords, aliens, ghosts…we finally have the winner of our Greatest Animated Disney Film of All Time tournament. After five rounds and thousands upon thousands of votes, it's all over! The fans have spoken and only one Disney movie remains.
In the final round, The Lion King went head to head with The Little Mermaid, basically turning the final voting into a '90s nostalgia face-off. And it was bloody. Well, as bloody as an Internet poll can get.
The winner of our Disney competition won by less than 1,000 clicks and got just 54% of the votes. Told you it was a squeaker. Ready to find out which one has been crowned the Greatest Animated Disney Film of All Time? The answer is but a scroll away, past some random Disney GIFs…
The winner is...The Lion King!
Simba and his journey from lion cub to king of Pride Rock beat out Ariel's destiny to be a human and is the Greatest Disney Movie of all time, according to the fans. The Lion King had to not only take down The Little Mermaid, but it also had to get past movies like Toy Story and Beauty and the Beast. It was no easy feat to get to the top, but The Lion King did it.
To honor this victory, we wanted to share with you Rolling Stone's original review of The Lion King when it came out in theaters back in 1994. We're not surprised by The Lion King coming out as the winner, and we think the review explains why it will always be a cherished film by all:
"It's a hugely entertaining blend of music, fun and eye-popping thrills, though it doesn't lack for heart. The father-son relationship is movingly rendered...Let's also lionize the visual miracles by 600 Disney artisans, who bring the African landscape to stunning life from a raindrop falling gently on a leaf to a spectacular stampede of wildebeests. It's this kind of animation artistry that raises The Lion King above the level of superior kid stuff and into the realm of a royal treat."
Now press play below and celebrate The Lion King's big win by dancing around and singing in your office/room/classroom/wherever you are until you really start to scare people away:
Find out why Simba was named one of our top 9 best movie animals of all time!