Top 50 Shorts On Disney+ | January 2020
Each month, I bring you my list of the top 50 shorts available on Disney+, which include shorts from across Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic and Pixar. And unlike movies or series, shorts are much more easier to jump in and try out. Only have 5 minutes spare or haven’t seen it, there is no time investment in checking these out.
This month Disney added a number of new shorts to the service, with two of those new additions being added to this list, including the Pixar SparkShort Loop and Destino.
Here is the “What’s On Disney Plus” Top 50 shorts on Disney+:
50) Mike’s New Car
This Monsters Inc spinoff sees Mike buy a six-wheel drive car that’s been loaded with gadgets. That new car smell doesn’t last long, however, as Sulley jump-starts an ill-fated road test that teaches Mike the true meaning of buyer’s remorse. Fans of the Monsters Inc should check this one out.
49) LEGO All Stars Shorts
This series features LEGO versions of the latest heroes and villains of the Star Wars galaxy alongside iconic characters including Kylo Ren, R2-D2, Young Han, Chewie, Young Lando, BB-8, and General Leia. All with the usual humor of LEGO animation.
48) Jack Jack Attack
This spin-off from The Incredibles movie, sees Jack’s babysitter struggle with its ‘special needs.’ This short is perfectly inline with the original, it could have easily just been an extra scene. Incredibles fans should certainly watch this one.
47) Guardians Of The Galaxy Shorts
Before they became Guardians, five outlaws made their way through the galaxy. These shorts tell stories from the checkered pasts of Peter Quill, Groot, Rocket, Drax and Gamora.
46) Toy Story Hawaiian Vacation
More fun from the Toy Story characters, as Woody and Buzz lead a group of toys in giving Ken and Barbie the Hawaiian vacation of their dreams – but it has to be in a girl’s bedroom in the Midwest in the middle of winter, because Ken badly miscalculated the travel arrangements. More Toy Story stories can never be a bad thing to watch.
45) Destino
To a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover’s face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game. From the melting clocks and hourglass sand, to the figure rendered in strips, to the character covered in eyeballs, the style and themes of Dalí are clearly recognizable throughout. It’s a bit different but that’s never a bad thing!
44) Day & Night
When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! But as their suspicions turn to curiosity, they are delighted to find that this budding friendship can offer a new perspective on the world. Another great Pixar short.
43) Meter & Ghost Light
If you loved Cars, then this one’s for you. Mater spends the day playing scary pranks on the townsfolk of Radiator Springs. That night Sheriff tells everyone about the legend of the Ghostlight. Mater is left alone in the dark to ponder whether the legend of the fabled Ghostlight is true.
42) La Luna
This adorable short tells the story of a young boy coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. It’s the first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. Will he be able to find his own way amidst their conflicting opinions and timeworn traditions? Beautiful.
41) Wise Little Hen
This classic short from the 1930’s introduces Donald Duck to the world. Donald and Peter Pig refuse to help the Wise Little Hen plant her corn or harvest it, but they are plenty anxious to help eat it.
40) Pluto Lend A Paw
Another classic Disney cartoon from the 1940’s. Jealous of Mickey’s kitten, Pluto’s devil-self argues with his angel-self over whether or not to rescue the kitten when it falls into a well. The angel-self wins, and Pluto is treated like a hero.
39) Loop
In LOOP, two kids at canoe camp find themselves adrift on a lake, unable to move forward until they find a new way to connect and see the world through each other’s eyes. This is the first Pixar short to include a non-verbal Autistic character and covers the subject very well. Highly Recommended.
38) Small Fry
If you’re a fan of Buzz Lightyear, this short will be an enjoyable 5 minutes as when Buzz Lightyear is left behind at a fast food restaurant when a kids’ meal toy version of him takes his place. As Woody and the gang devise a way to rescue their friend, Buzz tries to escape a support group for discarded toys.
37) Three Little Pigs
In this Academy Award winning short, the Three Little Pigs each build a house; one of straw, one of sticks, one of wolf-proof bricks. The Big Bad Wolf comes along and blows away the straw and stick homes, but is unable to destroy the house of bricks.
36) Wind
This is the biggest new short to join Disney+ this month and is set in a world of magical realism, WIND sees a grandmother and her grandson trapped deep down an endless chasm, scavenging debris that surrounds them to realize their dream of escaping to a better life. It should be high on your watch list.
35) Smash & Grab
After years of toiling away inside the engine room of a towering locomotive, two antiquated robots will risk everything for freedom and for each other. This Sparkshort is a lovely addition to the program and very enjoyable.
34) Your Friend The Rat
Remy and his brother Emile present their case as to why humans and rats should just get along. They guide us through the history of man and rat and provide fun rat facts. They pull out all the stops and end with a song describing a rat/human utopia. If you ever wanted to know more about Rats, this short is for you.
33) Doug’s Special Mission
This short is set just prior to the events of Up, which sees Dug sent on foolish missions by Alpha, Beta and Gamma so they can hunt for the Bird of Paradise Falls by themselves. This perfectly fits in with the Pixar classic and if you enjoyed Up, you can’t go wrong with watching this.
32) One Man Band
Another funny Pixar short, that sees two competing street performers trying to impress a little girl in order to get her coin into their tip jars. The little girl, Tippy, is caught in the middle as a musical duel ensues between the one-man bands.
31) Partysaurus Rex
If you want more adventures with the characters from Toy Story, this short will have you covered. Poor Rex, the toys all think he’s a party pooper. But when Bonnie takes him to bath time, he goes from zero to hero by throwing an over-the-top Bubble Bath time bash! No longer a wet blanket, the king of the hot tub is the legendary Partysaurus Rex!
30) Purl
Purl was the first Sparkshort released and it showed a different side of Pixar, with a stronger political tone that sparked lots of interest on the internet. An earnest ball of yarn named Purl gets a job at a fast-paced, high energy, male centric start-up. Things start to unravel as she tries to fit in with this close knit group. Purl must ask herself how far is she willing to go to get the acceptance she yearns for and in the end is it worth it?
29) Burn-E
This spinoff of Wall-E, tells the story of Burn-E, who keeps getting affected by the actions of Wall-E and Eve from the main movie. It’s a fun little short that fans of the original movie will want to check out.
28) Lonesome Ghost
This classic short from 1937 tells the story of four bored ghosts in a haunted house who’ve scared everyone away call up Ghost Hunters Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in hopes to have a little fun scaring them off.
27) Legend Of Mordu
This short is a spinoff from Brave, which sees the Witch explain via magical illustrations the legend of a power-obsessed prince who sought a magic spell that would allow him to wrest control of a kingdom from his brothers, only to destroy that kingdom and his own fate as well.
26) Flowers and Trees
Another classic from the 1930’s. It’s spring, and nature comes to life. Some trees play a tune, using vines for harp strings and a chorus of robins. A nasty looking hollow tree battles a much healthier-looking tree for the attentions of a female tree and starts a fire.
25) “The Tortoise and the Hare”
This classic Silly Symphony short from the 1930’s is believed to be the inspiration for Bugs Bunny and also won an Oscar. It’s a classic story of the slow plodding Tortoise beating the Hare, who is rushing around but getting nowhere.
24) Sanjay’s Super Team
This superhero inspired short is all about a young boy called Sanjay, who daydreams of Hindu gods as superheroes. It’s a great representation of a different culture and how it can cross over with modern day trends.
23) Presto
A fun short featuring the magician, Presto. But, when Presto forgets to feed his rabbit one too many times, well, there’s really no telling what to expect! A fun adventure that will keep you laughing.
22) Geri’s Game
One of the earlier shorts from Pixar, this one sees an ageing codger named Geri plays a day-long game of chess in the park against himself. Somehow, he begins losing to his livelier opponent. But just when the game’s nearly over, Geri manages to turn the tables.
21) Party Central
This spinoff to Monsters University sees Mike and Sulley plan to make sure “Party Central” is the most epic party the school has ever seen. Just more fun with characters we love.
20) Partly Cloudy
This lovely story explains how where do the storks get the babies from? The answer lies up in the stratosphere, where cloud people sculpt babies from clouds and bring them to life. A beautiful short that is heart warming and certainly pulls on your heartstrings.
19) Float
In Float, a father discovers that his son is different from other kids in the most unusual way. To keep them both safe from judgement, Dad covers him and keeps him out of sight—but when his son’s ability becomes public, Dad must decide whether to run and hide or to accept his son as he is. And check out the extras on this short, it will really help you understand the short by knowing the creator behind it.
18) Ferdinand The Bull
Ferdinand the Bull is another classic Walt Disney short from the 1930’s, that tells the story of Little Ferdinand the bull who is stung by a bumblebee when men come to pick a bull for a fight. When he gets in the arena, all he cares about are the flowers in the matador’s hands. This movie picked up an Oscar in 1938.
17) The Little Whirlwind
A classic animated short from the 1940’s sees Minnie Mouse wants Mickey to clean up her yard. While Mickey is working, a baby whirlwind pesters him and plays havoc with his attempts to clean up the fallen leaves. Who doesn’t love some classic Mickey Mouse adventures.
16) One Day At Disney
This new series arrived on Disney+ this month and each week, we get a short documentary giving us an insight into a specific Disney Cast Member, who drive creativity and innovation at The Walt Disney Company. This series will consist of over 50 shorts, ranging from Cast Members at Shanghai Disneyland, to ESPN to Pixar and even from the set of Modern Family. Currently we’ve only got a few episodes available, though there is a feature length documentary available if you want to dive deeper.
15) Kitbull
Kitbull is my favourite Sparkshort from Pixar and tells the story of an unlikely connection sparks between two creatures: a fiercely independent stray kitten and a pit bull. Together, they experience friendship for the first time. For animal lovers, this one is gonna make you cry.
14) Lifted
This funny Pixar short is all about a young alien student who bungles his first lesson in elementary abduction as an increasingly weary instructor looks on. It’s full of laughs.
13) Chef Donald
If you want some vintage Donald Duck, you can’t go wrong with this short from the 1940’s as Donald gets inspired by a radio programme to make waffles.
12) Boundin
For a high-stepping lamb, life is an upbeat western waltz until his prairie friends tease him about his freshly sheared look.The only one who can see things right is the giant jackalope, who brings sunshine and optimism with him wherever he bounds. This is another great funny short from Pixar.
11) The Blue Umbrella
An alluring story of two umbrellas- who fall eternally in love. Pixar manage to take something as simple as an umbrella and turn it into a beautiful love story. You shouldn’t miss this one.
10) For The Birds
Another fantastic and funny short from Pixar that sees a flock of small birds perch on a telephone wire. Sitting close together is hard enough, and then comes along a large dopey bird who tries to join them. The birds of a feather make fun of him, but the clique mentality proves embarrassing in the end.
9) The Band Concert
One of my favorite vintage Disney shorts from the 1930’s. Mickey is a frustrated bandleader who must deal with obnoxious peanut vendor and flute player Donald Duck, who tries to persuade the band to play “Turkey in the Straw,” and a cyclone hits before his concert of “William Tell Overture” is completed.
8) Inner Workings
If you loved Inside Out, this short is for you. It tells the story of Paul’s fearful brain, a pragmatic protector calculating his every move—and his good-time heart, a free-spirited adventurer— engage in a tug-of-war to reclaim his balance in life. It’s one of my favorite Pixar shorts from the past few years.
7) Lou
When a toy-stealing bully ruins recess for a playground full of kids, only one thing stands in his way – the Lost & Found box. This is another fantastic short from Pixar, that is full of heart and charm.
6) Riley’s First Date
This follow up to Inside Out, has Riley, who is now 12, hanging out at home with her parents in San Francisco when potential trouble comes knocking: a boy shows up at the door. Can Mom and Dad’s emotions handle Riley’s first date? If you loved Inside Out, you must watch this.
5) Bao
One of my all time favorite Pixar shorts is Bao, which is all about a Chinese mom who’s sad when her grown son leaves home gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life. But she finds that nothing stays cute and small forever. Extremely charming and will certainly pull on your heartstrings.
4) Piper
This charming Pixar short sees a hungry sandpiper hatchling ventures from her nest for the first time to dig for food by the shoreline. The problem is, the food is buried in the sand where scary waves roll up. A fantastic short that can be enjoyed over and over.
3) Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
This Christmas themed special continues the story from “Frozen”, which sees Olaf trying to discover people’s holiday traditions. With a great soundtrack, that features original songs, this is easily one of the highlights of shorts on offer on Disney+.
2) Lava
This amazing short has been inspired by the isolated beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes, “Lava” is a musical love story that takes place over millions of years and just captures the spirit of the tropical islands with a breathtaking song that instantly reminded me of the famous Hawaiian singer, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.
1) Steamboat Willie
If you only watch one short on Disney+, this is it. The original. The one that started it all. This is how the world met Mickey Mouse and is a must see. Mickey Mouse is a mischievous deckhand on a riverboat that is under the command of the tyrannical Captain Pete.
What short is your favorite?
My favorite short is not even listed. I loved Mickey's Trailer. I also like Hockey Champ and Bearly Asleep with Donald Duck. And who can forget all those How To shorts with Goofy? Very funny!