Greatest Disney Sports Movies of All Time
"The Mighty Ducks" is a great family movie.
The Walt Disney Company knows how to tell a story. Sports are no exception.
For decades, Disney has produced inspirational and beloved sports movies. And you don't even have to be a sports fan to enjoy them.
These are the greatest Disney sports movies of all time.
30. The World's Greatest Athlete
Nanu, left, tried to win the entire NCAA Track and Field Championships by himself.
Year released: 1973
Budget: $2 million
Box office: $22.5 million
Starring: Jan-Michael Vincent, John Amos, Tim Conway, Roscoe Lee Browne, Dayle Haddon
Director: Robert Scheerer
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 34 percent
Bottom line: Jan-Michael Vincent — you might know him better from the 1980s TV show "Airwolf" — does a decent job in the title role of Nanu.
The boy wonder is recruited from the African bush to play for lowly Merrivale College and attempts to win every event at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.
John Amos is the movie's real MVP as Merrivale's desperate head coach.
29. Planes
"Planes" was a box-office hit that spun off another Disney film.
Year released: 2013
Budget: $50 million
Box office: $239.3 million
Starring (voices): Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Teri Hatcher, Priyanka Chopra, Brad Garrett, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, John Cleese, Sinbad, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards
Director: Klay Hall
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 49 percent
Bottom line: Leave it to Disney to take one idea — in this case the smash film "Cars" and its racing plot — and turn it into something different but exactly the same.
"Planes" was a monster box-office hit as a spin-off from the "Cars" franchise. Director Klay Hall had already helmed 89 episodes of the hit animated show "King of the Hill" before he got the call to direct this blockbuster.
And it's kind of genius.
28. Air Bud
"Air Bud" spawned almost a dozen sequels and spin-off films.
Year released: 1997
Budget: $3 million
Box office: $27.8 million
Starring: Buddy, Kevin Zegers, Wendy Makenna, Michael Jeter, Bill Cobbs, Eric Christmas, Nicola Cavendish
Director: Charles Martin Smith
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 38 percent
Bottom line: The plot of "Air Bud' Is truly bananas. Buddy, the discarded dog of a traveling clown, becomes a basketball star alongside his new owner.
But it's impossible to argue with the film's success. "Air Bud" spawned a staggering four sequels featuring Bud and seven spin-off films featuring Buddy's puppies, The Little Buddies.
What's next?
27. Cars 3
The "Cars" franchise made over $1 billion for Disney.
Year released: 2017
Budget: $175 million
Box office: $383.9 million
Starring (voices): Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper, Armie Hammer, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, Lee DeLaria, Kerry Washington
Director: Brian Fee
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 69 percent
Bottom line: While "Cars 2" veered off into some wacky spy-influenced plots, "Cars 3" brought the franchise back to its racing roots. Which is a weird thing to write about a movie about animated talking cars, but here we are.
The box-office receipts from the three "Cars" movies are staggering — $1.408 billion.
That's billion, with a big fat capital B.
26. Right on Track
"Right on Track" co-starred future Academy Award winner Brie Larson.
Year released: 2003
Budget: N/A
Box office: N/A (Disney Channel movie)
Starring: Brie Larson, Beverly Mitchell
Director: Duwayne Dunham
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73 percent
Bottom line: Based on the true story of real-life pro drag racers Courtney and Erica Enders, "Right on Track" director Duwayne Dunham deserves major credit for casting both "7th Heaven" star Beverly Mitchell and future Academy Award Best Actress Brie Larson.
It's no surprise Dunham knew talent. He was a go-to film editor for Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and David Lynch before becoming a director.
25. D2: The Mighty Ducks
There were three films in "The Mighty Ducks" film franchise.
Year released: 1994
Budget: $20 million
Box office: $45.6 million
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Joshua Jackson, Kathryn Erbe, Elden Henson,
Director: Sam Weisman
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 59 percent
Bottom line: If you're looking for a serviceable sequel, "D2: The Mighty Ducks" pretty much fits the bill in that it includes most of the original film's cast and sticks to the same underdog story.
It also includes one of the greatest athlete cameo lineups in history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wayne Gretzky, Greg Louganis, Chris Chelios, Cam Neely and Luc Robitaille all pop up at some point.
24. The Big Green
"The Big Green" was the only soccer movie to make the list.
Year released: 1995
Budget: $12 million
Box office: $17.7 million
Starring: Olivia d'Abo, Steve Guttenberg, Jay O. Sanders, John Terry, Chauncey Leopard, Patrick Renna
Director: Holly Goldberg Sloan
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 46 percent
Bottom Line: Yes, this is the soccer movie with the kid from "The Sandlot" in it.
More notable than that was director Holly Goldberg Sloan becoming the first woman to direct a live-action film for Disney.
Sloan got the job after writing and producing another hit sports movie for Disney, "Angels in the Oufield" and is also a New York Times bestselling novelist.
23. Johnny Tsunami
The two Johnny Tsunamis walk on the beach.
Year released: 1999
Budget: N/A
Box office: N/A (Disney Channel movie)
Starring: Brandon Baker, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Kirsten Storms, Lee Thompson Young, Yuji Okumoto
Director: Steve Boyum
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 62 percent
Bottom Line: The main character of Johnny Kapahala was popular enough that a sequel was made eight years later — "Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board" — which brought back most of the main cast.
Part of that main cast included one of the more venerated character actors of all time with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who played Johnny's grandfather, the original Johnny Tsunami.
22. Ice Princess
"Ice Princess" was a box-office disappointment for Disney.
Year released: 2005
Budget: $25 million
Box office: $27.6 million
Starring: Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack, Kim Cattrall, Hayden Panettiere
Director: Tim Fywell
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58 percent
Bottom line: If you can point to one film that killed the figure-skating movie genre, it's probably "Ice Princess." But that's not because it's a bad movie.
The problem was the budget signaled a higher-level investment for Disney that didn't pay off. For example, Disney's "The Game Plan" had a similar budget the next year and made $146.6 million at the box office.
21. Tiger Town
"Tiger Town" director Alan Shapiro, left, with star Roy Scheider.
Year released: 1983
Budget: N/A
Box office: N/A (Disney Channel movie)
Starring: Roy Scheider, Justin Henry, Ron McLarty
Director: Alan Shapiro
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82 percent
Bottom line: The first television movie produced directly for the Disney Channel, "Tiger Town" won the CableAce Award for Best Dramatic Film in 1984.
It also had some serious starpower at the top of its lineup. Two-time Academy Award nominee Roy Scheider played aging Detroit Tigers star Billy Young and Academy Award nominee Justin Henry was the kid who wishes his way to home runs for Young and the Tigers.
20. Double Teamed
"Double Teamed" was a huge hit for the Disney Channel.
Year released: 2002
Budget: N/A
Box office: N/A (Disney Channel movie)
Starring: Poppi Monroe, Annie McElwain, Teal Redmann, Nick Searcy, Tanya Goott, Joey Miyashima, Mackenzie Phillips
Director: Duwayne Dunham
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58 percent
Bottom line: In retrospect, "Double Teamed" would have probably been better served as a theatrical release because its popularity has endured for almost 20 years.
The film is based on the true story of twin basketball players Heather and Heidi Burge, who both went on to play in the WNBA.
It also was another TV movie hit for Disney from director Duwayne Dunham.
19. Gus
The plot of "Gus" has been recycled several times by Disney.
Year released: 1976
Budget: $3 million
Box office: $21.8 million
Starring: Don Knotts, Ed Asner, Tim Conway, Gary Grimes, Tom Bosley, Dick Butkus, Louise Williams
Director: Vincent McEveety
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 59 percent
Bottom line: One great thing about being a kid in the 1980s was the magic you felt when Disney movies played on Sunday afternoons, sometimes back-to-back, and Gus was in heavy rotation.
The reason for that was because it was simple fun meant to crack kids up, which it did. Vincent McEveety was one of Disney's most popular directors from 1971 to 1981, a stretch in which he helmed 12 studio feature films.
18. Angels in the Outfield
"Angels in the Outfield" had three Academy Award winners in its cast. Neither are in this picture.
Year released: 1994
Budget: $31.2 million
Box office: $50 million
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Danny Glover, Matthew McConaughey, Tony Danza, Adrien Brody, Christopher Lloyd, Brenda Fricker
Director: William Dear
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 49 percent
Bottom line: You didn't read that cast list wrong. "Angels in the Outfield" boasts three Academy Award winners in Matthew McConaughey, Adrien Brody and Brenda Fricker. And none of them are the lead.
That belonged to child actor and future movie star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Just a modest box-office hit upon release, Disney wrung two made-for-TV sequels out of the property with "Angels in the Infield" and "Angels in the Endzone."
17. Secretariat
Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973.
Year released: 2010
Budget: $35 million
Box office: $60.3 million
Starring: Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Dylan Walsh, Kevin Connolly, Scott Glenn
Director: Randall Wallace
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76 percent
Bottom line: Director Randall Wallace, an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for "Braveheart" piloted this biopic of arguably the greatest racehorse in history, 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
The modest box-office hit made almost double its budget and featured three Academy Award nominees in its cast — Diane Lane, two-time nominee John Malkovich and James Cromwell.
16. Million Dollar Arm
Jon Hamm has been in almost 30 films in the last decade.
Year released: 2014
Budget: $25 million
Box office: $39.2 million
Starring: Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Bill Paxton, Suraj Sharma, Lake Bell, Alan Arkin
Director: Craig Gillespie
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 68 percent
Bottom line: "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm has almost 30 film appearances in the last decade, but this might be his best role to date as a sports agent who signs the first two pro baseball players from India.
Director Craig Gillespie stumbled early in his career but kicked off a streak of box-office hits with this film, followed by "The Finest Hours" and another sports movie, "I,Tonya" based on the life of figure skater Tonya Harding.
15. The Game Plan
The Rock went by Dwayne Johnson in all of his film roles after 2007.
Year released: 2007
Budget: $22 million
Box office: $146.6 million
Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Madison Pettis, Kyra Sedgwick, Morris Chestnut, Roselyn Sanchez
Director: Andy Fickman
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 69 percent
Bottom line: Notable for being the last film in which Dwayne Johnson used "The Rock" in the film's billing, "The Game Plan" was a monster hit for Disney.
It also was the first of two back-to-back Disney collaborations between Johnson ad director Andy Fickman, who also directed the "Race to Witch Mountain" remake.
14. Cool Runnings
The Jamaican bobsled team participated in the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Year released: 1992
Budget: $17 million
Box office: $154.9 million
Starring: John Candy, Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, Rawle D. Lewis
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81 percent
Bottom line: Based on the true story of the Jamaican bobsled team that participated in the 1988 Winter Olympics, "Cool Runnings" was a smash for Disney and the last box-office hit for comedian John Candy, who died in 1994.
Director Jon Turteltaub has been box-office gold throughout his career. He also directed the "National Treasure" films for Disney.
13. Cars
"Cars" grossed a whopping $462 million in 2006.
Year released: 2006
Budget: $120 million
Box office: $462 million
Starring (voices): Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin
Director: John Lasseter
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79 percent
Bottom line: The legacy of "Cars" is twofold.
It's the final film starring Paul Newman, who died in 2008 and is one of the greatest movie stars of all time. It's also part of the filmography of director John Lasseter, the former creative chief at Pixar, who directed five films for Disney totaling almost $3 billion in box-office receipts.
Lasseter was ousted from Disney in 2018 for sexual harassment and now heads Skydance Animation.
12. The Rookie
Dennis Quaid portrayed MLB pitcher Jim Morris, who didn't break into the majors until he was 35 years old.
Year released: 2002
Budget: $22 million
Box office: $87 million
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Brian Cox
Director: John Lee Hancock
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 70 percent
Bottom line: Dennis Quaid as MLB pitcher Jim Morris, who didn't start his pro career until his mid-30s, fit the Disney sports movie formula perfectly — modest budget with a big star who can control the screen.
"The Rookie" tripled its budget at the box office, and in 2009, director John Lee Hancock's "The Blind Side" was made for $29 million and hauled in $309.2 million.
11. Iron Will
"Iron Will" star Mackenzie Astin lost half of his ear in a car accident shortly after filming.
Year released: 1994
Budget: $10 million
Box office: $21 million
Starring: Mackenzie Austin, Kevin Spacey, David Ogden Stiers, Brian Cox, Penelope Windust, August Schellenberg
Director: Charles Haid
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 65 percent
Bottom line: "Iron Will" can hold its own with any of Disney's sports movies.
That gets a big lift from director Charles Haid casting disgraced, two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey in the last moments before his career shot into the stratosphere in the mid-1990s.
The lead, Mackenzie Astin, came from Hollywood royalty as the son of actors Patty Duke and John Astin and the brother of actor Sean Astin.
10. Glory Road
"Glory Road" starred Josh Lucas, left, and Derek Luke.
Year released: 2006
Budget: $30 million
Box office: $42.9 million
Starring: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Jon Voight, Mehcad Brooks, Austin Nichols, Emily Deschanel
Director: James Gartner
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81 percent
Bottom line: "Glory Road" took a beating from critics for playing it loose and fast with the facts surrounding the 1966 Texas Western (now UTEP) national championship team, but audiences did not seem to mind.
Josh Lucas is campy but good as legendary coach Don Haskins, and there's a couple of great supporting turns from criminally underused actors Derek Luke and Mehcad Brooks.
9. How to Play Football
"How to Play Football" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.
Year released: 1944
Budget: N/A
Box office: N/A
Starring: Goofy
Director: Jack Kinney
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: N/A
Bottom line: The only short film to make the list, you can still watch "How to Play Football" today and get a good kick out of the animation and see why its popularity endures more than 75 years after its release.
Just seven-and-a-half minutes long, the Goofy-starring short was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and played in front of feature films in the 1940s.
8. The Greatest Game Ever Played
Shia LaBeouf was one of the biggest stars of the early 2000s.
Year released: 2005
Budget: $25 million
Box office: $15.4 million
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Stephen Dillane, Elias Koteas, Peter Firth
Director: Bill Paxton
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82 percent
Bottom line: This film lost money at the box office, but it was critically well-received, and among golf fans, it is considered one of the great films about the sport.
Directed by the late character actor Bill Paxton, it's also a testament to Paxton's talent as an artist.
Paxton, who died in 2017 of a stroke, co-starred in some of the biggest films of all time and was beloved by fellow actors for his lack of cynicism and humility.
7. The Mighty Ducks
"The Mighty Ducks" was one of Emilio Estevez's big box-office hits as the lead.
Year released: 1992
Budget: $14 million
Box office: $50.8 million
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Joshua Jackson, Lane Smith, Joss Ackland
Director: Stephen Herek
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 65 percent
Bottom line: The NHL franchise came after the film came out, just to be clear, but "The Mighty Ducks" was a humongous hit when it came out.
That's thanks in no small part to one of Emilio Estevez's last real movie-star roles. This was also part of a decade-long streak of box-office hits for director Stephen Herek that began with "Critters" in 1986 and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" in 1989.
6. Invincible
Mark Wahlberg portrayed Philadelphia Eagles special teams standout Vince Papale.
Year released: 2006
Budget: $30 million
Box office: $58.5 million
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Deschanel, Kevin Conway, Michael Rispoli
Director: Ericson Core
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73 percent
Bottom line: Based on a true story, Academy Award nominees Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear give the underdog tale of Philadelphia Eagles special teams standout Vince Papale a huge lift.
Wahlberg is perfect as Papale, and Kinnear is great as Eagles coach Dick Vermeil.
Director Ericson Core's unforgivable sin of a movie was several years later — the ridiculous "Point Break" remake in 2015.
5. The Love Bug
"The Love Bug" was one of the biggest hits of the 1960s.
Year released: 1968
Budget: $5 million
Box office: $51.2 million
Starring: Dean Jones, Michelle Lee, Buddy Hackett, David Tomlinson
Director: Robert Stevenson
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 66 percent
Bottom line: It's kind of hard to explain to modern audiences what a humongous hit "The Love Bug" was and how popular the character of the car, Herbie, became in popular culture. But we'll try.
The $51.2 million the movie made at the box office in 1968 would be comparable to $381.5 million in 2020.
4. Queen of Katwe
"Queen of Katwe" was based on the life of Ugandan chess champion Phiona Mutesi.
Year released: 2016
Budget: $15 million
Box office: $10.4 million
Starring: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyongo, Esteri Tebandeke, Peter Odeke, Sheebah Karungi
Director: Mira Nair
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87 percent
Bottom line: The movie is based on the inspiring true story of Phiona Mutesi, a schoolgirl who rose out of the Katwe slums in Kampala, Uganda's capital, to become a national chess champion and eventually a Woman Candidate Master after winning at the World Chess Olympiads.
Academy Award winner Lupita Nyongo helps lift up the cast as Mutesi's poverty-stricken mother.
3. Miracle
"Miracle" was based on the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team.
Year released: 2004
Budget: $28 million
Box office: $64.5 million
Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich, Eddie Cahill
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90 percent
Bottom line: The story of the "Miracle on Ice" is powered by incredible turns from Kurt Russell, as Team USA hockey coach Herb Brooks, and director Gavin O'Connor.
Russell, who began working as a child actor in the 1960s, has few roles that compare to this one.
O'Connor has another all-time sports movie on his resume with 2011's "Warrior" starring Tom Hardy.
2. McFarland, USA
Kevin Costner won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1990 for "Dances With Wolves."
Year released: 2014
Budget: $25 million
Box office: $45.7 million
Starring: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Morgan Saylor, Carlos Pratts, Ramiro Rodriguez, Valente Rodriguez
Director: Niki Caro
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88 percent
Bottom line: If you put Kevin Costner in a sports movie, people will show up. That's just a fact.
Costner has transitioned from athlete to coach/mentor roles as he's getting older, and the payoff is just as good.
"McFarland, USA" has power and emotion in all the right places thanks in no small part to director Niki Caro, who also directed the 2002 film "Whale Rider" and the live-action Disney version of "Mulan" in 2020.
1. Remember the Titans
Denzel Washington's salary was almost half of the entire budget for "Remember the Titans" in 2000.
Year released: 2000
Budget: $30 million
Box office: $136.7 million
Starring: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst, Ryan Gosling, Donald Faison, Kip Pardue, Ethan Suplee, Hayden Panettiere, Kate Bosworth
Director: Boaz Yakin
Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93 percent
Bottom line: "Remember the Titans" is considered one of the greatest football movies of all time. And rightfully so.
We can overlook most of the historical accuracies in the movie and appreciate it for what it is — which is awesome.
It's also a stunning testament to Denzel Washington's on-screen power. An estimated $15 million of the film's $30 million budget went to his salary, and it earned a staggering $136.7 million at the box office.