When you opened up HBO Max this morning you might have noticed something a little … funny about the vast selection of available movies on Warner Media’s streaming platform. Alongside the voluminous offerings from Criterion, Studio Ghibli and Warner’s incredible inhouse library, there are a lot of Disney movies. This is thanks to an ironclad licensing agreement signed before the streaming wars got really heated (this is also the reason why New Mutants isn’t just popping up on Hulu one day). Most of these titles will make it to Disney’s twin streaming services of Hulu and Disney+ in the not too distant future, but as for now it’s striking that they’re appearing on a competitor’s new direct-to-consumer juggernaut.

While the siloed brands of Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and Disney Animation aren’t accounted for, there are still a number of hidden gems from the generous Disney library currently available on HBO Max. And as a disclaimer these are all Disney movie produced in house either by the main studio or one of its subsidiaries – we’ve purposefully left off Fox movies (now a part of the Magic Kingdom) and also any movies released by Dimension or Miramax from that era because … ick.

Air Buddies

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Image via Disney

While “best” might be pushing it, the talking-puppy-centered Air Bud spin-off films, including holiday-specific entries like Santa Buddies and Spooky Buddies, seem like Disney+ no-brainers (especially for the younger subscribers) but they’re all on HBO Max. The direct-to-video entries were hugely profitable and hold a unique place in the history of the company as the brainchild of former home video executive and current Disney CEO Bob Chapek (yes, seriously – is it all making sense now?) Air Buddies was also, oddly enough, the last film to feature Don Knotts (he was the voice of a bloodhound named Sniffer), who starred in a number of Disney films in the post-Walt wilderness years including The Apple Dumpling Gang, Gus (he was a field-goal-kicking mule, you know), Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo and Hot Lead and Cold Feet.

Armageddon

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

There are few live-action Disney movies as kick-ass or as incredibly profitable (globally it was the #1 movie of 1998) as Armageddon. Advertised as “a Jerry Bruckheimer production directed by Michael Bay,” Armageddon was basically designed in a lab to be the biggest, most 1998 possible, with a cast that includes Bruce Willis, Liv Tyler, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck and Steve Buscemi, working from a script with five credited screenwriters and several more who went uncredited (including J.J. Abrams, Robert Towne and Tony Gilroy) and a soundtrack album full of new and preexisting songs from Aerosmith (their Disney theme park attraction, Rock N’ Rollercoaster, would open the following year at what was then Disney-MGM Studios). And while some of the visual effects (a handful of which were added last minute to give it more ammo against Deep Impact) don’t hold up, and the rah-rah patriotism is more befitting a Coca-Cola commercial than a major motion picture, Armageddon still holds up and exists as the kind of big budget, high concept stand-alone Disney spectacle that they just don’t make anymore.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

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Image via Disney

Is this the best Disney (or HBO Max) has to offer? Absolutely not. But Beverly Hills Chihuahua is the kind of competent, for-the-kids programmer that you are in desperate need of. Directed by Raja Gosnell, who was the editor of Home Alone, and with a surprisingly starry cast that includes Piper Perabo, Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore, George Lopez and Andy Garcia. While not the most culturally sensitive family comedy out there (including the fact that Barrymore voices the lead character, a Mexican chihuahua), it is sweet and occasionally funny and will remind you of those Disney movies from the 1960s whose only objective was to happily occupy an hour-and-a-half of your child’s Saturday afternoon. Beverly Hills Chihuahua was also a fairly sizable hit that inspired two direct-to-video sequels which are also available on HBO Max. Viva la chihuahua!

Bicentennial Man

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Image via Disney

Accompanied by one of the worst marketing campaigns in Disney’s history, Bicentennial Man is a much better movie than anybody gives it credit for. Based on the Isaac Asimov story (get ready for the three rules!), Chris ColumbusBicentennial Man stars a very game Robin Williams as a household robot who slowly becomes more human over the course of 200 years. For a family film where Williams plays a wacky robot, it wrestles with a number of complex, philosophically rich themes and has a terrific supporting cast (including Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz, Bradley Whitford and Oliver Platt) and memorable score by James Horner. One of a pair of sci-fi-themed co-productions with Columbia Pictures (the other was, surprisingly, Starship Troopers), the much gentler Bicentennial Man is the kind of curiosity ripe for streaming service rediscovery – on HBO Max or elsewhere.

The Big Green

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Image via Disney

Part of a rash of mid-level sports comedies aimed at families (don’t worry, there’ll be more on this list), The Big Green is harmless-enough fun that exists in that mid-90s sweet spot that millennials will undoubtedly soon embrace as a nostalgic favorite. (Mark my words, it’ll soon get the Goofy Movie treatment.) Notable for being the directorial debut of Holly Goldberg Sloan, who co-wrote and produced the genuinely wonderful Disney movie Angels in the Outfield a year earlier. In fact, The Big Green was the first Disney movie to be written and directed by a woman in *checks notes* the year of our lord 1995. It’s also worth noting that the film centers around the incredibly European sport, wisely transported to Texas (they shot outside of Austin), giving it an additional, super fun fish-out-of-water quality.

Bridge to Terabithia

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Image via Disney

One of Disney’s handsomely produced, middle-of-the-road literary adaptations, Bridge to Terabithia, based on the 1977 novel by Katherine Peterson, follows a pair of kids (Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb) as they create a magical world of their own to compensate for the very real hardships in their lives. It’s the kind of story that feels secondhand even if you’ve never read it, but the adaptation features gorgeous cinematography (it was the last film by legendary cinematographer Michael Chapman) and lively staging by director Gábor Csupó, a Hungarian animator making his live-action debut. (His animation studio did the first three seasons of The Simpsons, along with shows like Rugrats and Aahh!!! Real Monsters.) With a solid supporting cast (Zooey Deschanel and Robert Patrick show up) and some unexpected visual flourishes, there are worse things you could revisit (or watch for the first time).

Can't Buy Me Love

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Image via Disney

An underrated gem from the 1980s teen romantic comedy movement, Can’t Buy Me Love works largely because of how earnest Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson are in the lead roles in the story of a dweeb who purchases the affection of “the most beautiful girl in the county” (according to Dempsey’s even-nerdier younger brother). It’s not as explicit as many teen comedies of the period (you can tell there are some judicious cuts around potential nudity) and doesn’t have the edge of something like Fast Times at Ridgemont High. But it is incredibly likable and much funnier than you probably remember, thanks largely to how good Dempsey and Peterson are. (With its mixture of sweetness and kitsch, it should have been a day one priority for Disney+.) Also Paula Abdul has a “choreography” credit (and appears uncredited as a dancer), so it has that going for it.

Dick Tracy

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Image via Disney

One of the more glaring omissions from Disney+’s lineup was (and continues to be) Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy. A bonkers take on the beloved Charles Gould detective comic strip, Disney had huge hopes for the movie (which is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary next month), but those hopes ultimately fell flat with disappointing box office returns and a middling critical response. But in the years since, it has amassed a cult following and the movie holds a fascinating place in Disney history at a truly critical juncture for the company. If you’ve never seen the movie, it’s certainly worth a look – Beatty was adamantly committed to preserving the comic strip aesthetic of the source material, heavily utilizing matte paintings and limiting the entire movie’s color palette to seven colors (all the same shade) and the cast is genuinely insane, including (deep breath) Madonna, Al Pacino, Dick Van Dyke, Kathy Bates, Dustin Hoffman, James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Seymour Cassel and Charles Durning. Also, the original songs by Stephen Sondheim (yes really) and score by Danny Elfman are terrific. The only thing missing from the HBO Max presentation is the Roger Rabbit short film that ran before it in theaters.

Grosse Pointe Blank

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

Released around the height of the post-Pulp Fiction oooo, dark comedy feeding frenzy, Grosse Pointe Blank has emerged as one of the better movies from that period – effortlessly charming and occasionally startling violent. Directed by underrated journeyman filmmaker George Armitage, Grosse Pointe Blank stars John Cusack as a hitman attending his high school reunion, where he attempts to make a romantic connection with a former classmate (Minnie Driver) while avoiding various killers. For a movie as seemingly lightweight as this, it made a surprisingly large impression, from the resurrection of the Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun” (originally released as a single in 1983) to the certification of Cusack and Driver in the Romantic Comedy Hall of Fame. (The score was composed by The Clash’s Joe Strummer, which is also very cool.) Breezy and fun, it’s the perfect HBO Max watch for folding laundry or doing the dishes. How High Fidelity got the Hulu original series treatment and Grosse Pointe Blank hasn’t is beyond me.

Judge Dredd

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

 

Before it got the gritty reboot treatment, the British comic book character first appeared on screen in Judge Dredd. Judge Dredd’s was production was a complete nightmare, from multiple unused drafts of the screenplay being commissioned to a prolonged post-production process that saw Disney endlessly tinkering in an effort to cut the film down and secure a PG-13 rating. (Three separate composers came and went; Alan Silvestri ultimately stayed.) When the movie garnered an R rating, reports came out that kids were buying tickets to Pocahontas and sneaking into Judge Dredd. Disney didn’t care. In fact, it needed all the help it could get. Widely criticized for both its lack of faithfulness to the original source material (Sylvester Stallone as Dredd takes off his helmet) and its derivative design and screenplay (not to mention Rob Schneider, wildly miscast and deeply annoying, as Dredd’s mismatched comedic sidekick), it ended up losing money and was quietly written off. But the movie isn’t that bad, with lots of cool ideas and nifty flourishes (like that giant robot Armand Assante recruits). Even Stallone’s Versace-designed uniform holds up well, an appropriately outré look for futuristic fascist police attire. Happy it’s here.

King Arthur

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Image via Disney

The concept behind King Arthur is almost so good that you can overlook its iffy execution. Presented as a kind of historically accurate recreation of the actual figures that inspired Arthurian legend (there’s a title card at the beginning referencing “new archeological findings”), it recasts Arthur (Clive Owen) as a roman soldier, Guinevere (Keira Knightley) is an empowered warrior, etc. King Arthur’s cast (including Ray Winstone, Hugh Dancy, Ioan Gruffudd and Stellan Skarsgård) is stellar and you can tell that director Antoine Fuqua (yes, seriously) and producer Jerry Bruckheimer were trying to reinvent the legend with grit and vigor while also hitting all of the beats you’d come to expect. The result, if not completely satisfying, is still hugely entertaining and surprisingly intense, with beautiful on-location photography and a soaring Hans Zimmer score. (HBO Max currently has the theatrical version of the movie, but if you’re really interested there’s a director’s cut home video release with significantly more footage and a more assured and consistent tone/atmosphere.)

The Mighty Ducks

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

Disney+ may be working on a new Mighty Ducks original series with screenwriter Stephen Brill and Emilio Estevez, but if you want to watch the original movies, you’ve got to head to HBO Max (all three of the original films are currently available). The Mighty Ducks was the hockey-obsessed 90s answer to The Bad News Bears, from the similar misfit-underdogs-versus-establishment narrative to the fact that the superior original film was followed by two sequels of lesser quality. And, really, the first Mighty Ducks is the best, thanks to more competent direction from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure director Stephen Herek (who will feature on our list again in one moment) and a surprising amount of depth given to Estevez’s character. (He’s a powerful attorney forced to coach the team after he gets a DUI. Can you imagine a character getting a DUI in a 2020 Disney movie?) The original remains a fist-pumping good time and the sequels are there just in case you want to keep the game going into overtime.

Mr. Holland’s Opus

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

Stephen Herek returns! (Told you.) Is Mr. Holland’s Opus profoundly schmaltzy and manipulative? It is! But it’s also pretty moving and is anchored by a layered, incredibly rewarding performance by Richard Dreyfus (who was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for the role) as a high school music teacher struggling with his students and his deaf son. (He’s also trying to write an original musical composition, hence the title.) Released the year after Forrest Gump, when serious, albliet saccharine, dramas were actually being made with some regularity, Mr. Holland’s Opus is a small-scale epic (running 143 minutes) that can be rewarding and aggravating, sometimes in the same moment. Still, it’s clear that Disney spent more money than they usually did on their live-action fare of the period, with top notch cinematography (by Oliver Wood) and music (an against-type Michael Kamen) and the deep wellspring of emotion the movie draws from will make even the most hardened HBO Max subscriber openly weep. Take that, cynicism!

Pearl Harbor

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Image via Disney

It’s clear that after they had pulled off Armageddon, Disney, Michael Bay, and Jerry Bruckheimer wanted to do something bit but also something with prestige. Enter Pearl Harbor, a historical romance featuring a love triangle (between Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale), gigantic wartime set pieces (including the jaw-dropping bombing sequence) and lots of time for Bay to indulge in his love of American iconography that could just as easily have been placed inside a Coca-Cola commercial or recruitment print ad. (Please, do not join Bay’s army.) It’s clear that the movie lost its way sometime during post-production (there are four credited editors which means nine probably worked on it and Beckinsale has stated publicly she had no idea what the movie was going to look like) and at 183 minutes it still feels way too long. But there’s still a bunch of great stuff in the movie, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor and a subsequent raid in Japan. It also has some of the most unintentionally hilarious moments in any of Bay’s movies (which is saying a lot), like when Alec Baldwin, with his perfect smoky gravel voice tells Affleck and Hartnett to “leave your hula shirts at home.” Priceless.

Primeval

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

Part of a short-lived initiative by Disney to get into the horror movie business (the only other feature it produced was the very so-so Stay Alive), Primeval is an above-average creature feature that makes you wish Disney had stayed in the horror game a little longer. Primeval is based on a terrifying true story of Gustave, a killer crocodile in Burundi who is rumored to have eaten more than 300 people. The script, by The Game screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris, does much to depict the sociopolitical unrest in the area, while still delivering on the giant crocodile thrills (the cast of potential victims includes Dominic Purcell, Orlando Jones and Jürgen Prochnow). While maybe not as scary as it should be, it’s still a fun little monster movie and the true story is fascinating.

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book

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Image via Disney

Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book is hands down one of Disney’s greatest live-action adaptations of their animated classics, and it came out more than two decades before Jon Favreau’s cutting-edge, CGI-adorned version. Co-written and directed by the underappreciated Stephen Sommers, this movie more closely adapts the source material (the animals don’t talk or sing) and wisely spends only a small amount of time with young Mowgli in the jungle, before flashing forward to the adult (and very hunky) version of the character, now played by Jason Scott Lee. With a supporting cast that includes Lena Headey, Cary Elwes, Sam Neill, and John Cleese, and some of the best animal acting you’ll ever see, this Jungle Book proved that you could maintain the spirit of the original while also pumping up some of the action (this is, after all, a Stephen Sommers movie) and maturing other elements. If you want a straight Jungle Book remake, this isn’t it. But if you want an absorbing, swashbuckling period action movie with tons of great animals and more than a few nods to the beloved classic, grab your popcorn and turn on HBO Max.

Signs

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

Maybe M. Night Shyamlan’s most purely entertaining movie, Signs seemed to establish the filmmaker as the true heir to the Steven Spielberg throne and confirmed him as one of Disney’s most prized in-house (after Unbreakable’s somewhat disappointing response). Closely resembling the aborted John Sayles/Spielberg scary alien movie Night Skies, Signs follows a family in rural Pennsylvania (Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin) who start experiencing increasingly spooky phenomena on their farm following the discovering of a hieroglyphic crop circle. Eventually the movie becomes a full-on alien invasion movie while seldom leaving the farm house, a stroke of genius that feels both reminiscent (particularly of Night of the Living Dead) and quietly revolutionary. Arguably his funniest and scariest film, Signs is the work of a filmmaker operating at the highest level of his powers, backed by a studio that unflappably believes in him. (Yes, the monster at the end sucks.) Shyamalan’s relationship with Disney would sour soon enough, but the quartet of blockbuster genre films he made for the studio cannot be overstated. While at Disney he created a reliable brand for himself as a filmmaker; when he left that cache left too. If you haven’t revisited Signs lately, then it’s probably been too long.

Sky High

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Image via Buena Vista Pictures

Yes, Sky High is one of the greatest superhero movies of the 21st century. And yes, it’s on HBO Max. (How this isn’t being developed as a Disney+ original series is mystifying.) If you haven’t seen this beguiling gem, time to fix that stat. The beguiling premise is the stuff of YA wish fulfillment, following a group of teenagers who attend a high school for superheroes (it’s a kind of floating space station, hence the title Sky High). Disney legend Kurt Russell toplines the impressive cast (which includes Kelly Preston, Bruce Campbell and a young Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and director Mike Mitchell, who has worked on both animated and live-action films, gives the movie an effervescent, cartoony energy all of its own (be warned, though: some of the visual effects do not hold up). A family that never condescends and always seems destined for greater things, Sky High should have been the first of many in a truly Disney brand franchise. Instead, it’s something of a cult classic.

Stakeout

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One of Disney’s more sizable live-action hits of the 1980s (it made $66 million on a budget of $14 million), Stakeout has been oddly overlooked of late (there isn’t even an overpriced Kino Lorber Blu-ray available). Starring Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez as bickering Seattle detectives tasked with watching Madeleine Stowe’s home (her ex-boyfriend, played by Aiden Quinn, escaped from prison), Stakeout is smartly written by Jim Kouf (whose screenplay won an Edgar Award that year) and energetically directed by John Badham. While the movie does have some cringe-y, leery stuff as they spy on Stowe (shades of Brian De Palma remaking one of his voyeuristic thrillers as a light comedy), it’s ultimately more good-natured than that, with Dreyfuss and Estevez's palpable chemistry going a long way, although you will hear the phrase “fag rag” in the first few minutes (whatever that means). Its somewhat underrated (and gorgeously shot) sequel Another Stakeout is also on HBO Max, which adds a very game Rosie O’Donnell to the cast as a clumsy district attorney who joins Dreyfus and Estevez on a new assignment, and sadly relegates Stowe to uncredited cameo status. Sigh.

Unbreakable

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Image via Touchstone

Not even last year’s limp follow-up Glass can undermine the power of Unbreakable, M. Night Shyamalan’s take on comic book movies and one of the very-best superhero movies of the 21st century. Bruce Willis, reteaming with the director (and Disney) after the success of The Sixth Sense, plays David Dunn, an average joe who miraculously survives a deadly train accident. Approached by an eccentric comic book collector (Samuel L. Jackson), he slowly uncovers the truth about himself – that he might just be a real-life superhero. Staged in a series of long, unbroken takes that allow for no room for error on the part of Shyamalan or the performers on screen (Robin Wright gives a devastating performance as Willis’ put-upon wife), Unbreakable casts a very deliberate spell. If you have never seen the movie or only watched it once and were disappointed (the intentionally misleading marketing campaign turned off some), give it another go while it’s on HBO Max. It really is a triumph and the most artistically accomplished of the Disney/Shyamalan partnership. But you can go ahead and skip Glass (which is also on HBO Max right now by the way).