Growing up, Disney movies and stories meant the world to me. They were inspirational, they gave me hope, and, of course, they were brilliantly entertaining. Everyone knows the classic, canonical Disney princess stories. We’ve all seen Peter Pan, The Lion King, and Monster’s Inc. These are the stories and characters that composed the childhoods of my generation. I like Disney for many reasons. Though it’s true that it took the company as a whole a long time to be inclusive (and they do still have a long way to go), Disney to me has always been nothing if not a piece of who I am. I may never look like Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel, but it is my firm belief that the strong characteristics surrounding who Disney characters actually are has helped and will continue to help millions of kids grow up and aim to be the best possible person they can be. This may all sound optimistic, but sometimes we all need a little faith, trust, and pixie dust. This list is meant to recognize those Disney movies that are without a doubt classic, but are utterly underrated amongst popular culture.

1. Atlantis

Atlantis is a Disney film that a good portion of you probably haven’t seen. If you haven't, it’s on Netflix and I highly recommend checking it out one night when you’re feeling the need to reminisce about your childhood. Atlantis features strong characters, witty dialogue, stunning visuals (particularly for 2001), and a child friendly take on the age old myth of the lost city. It promotes exploration, knowledge, and most importantly humility. The main character, Milo Thatch, is a linguist and cartographer who is attempting to continue his grandfather’s legacy of searching for and finding the lost civilization of Atlantis. He works for a museum that doesn’t support his research and all hope is nearly lost until he is approached by a seductive-looking but entirely badass woman who works for the wealthy Mr. Whitmore, a friend of Milo’s grandfather. Mr. Whitmore offers to completely fund the expedition to find Atlantis that Milo has been waiting for his entire life. The main message of this film is to experience and learn about other cultures without appropriating, altering, or destroying them, which feeds into the greater theme which is that all lives are important, even if you don’t understand them. Though not your typical Disney film, it is 100 percent worth checking out during a relaxing evening at home.

2. The Rescuers Down Under

I absolutely adore this movie. Not only is it told from the perspective of mice, which are typically seen as the lowest of mammalian life forms, but it also tells the story of an orphan girl who is taken advantage of by abusive adoptive parents, calling attention to both the adoption and foster care systems in the United States. Disney often uses animals or typically inanimate beings or objects in order to shift perspectives and use their ignorance of the human world in order to point out flaws and tendencies from an innocent and objective point of view. In The Rescuers Down Under, Disney’s use of mice and other various animals to detail the orphan story of a little girl named Penny allows the audience to take a step back and see the cruelty inflicted upon helpless beings by selfish and greedy people. Additionally, this particular perspective emphasizes that no matter how little power or influence you believe you may have, there’s always something that you can do improve others' situations. So if you like quirky stories that are guaranteed to break your heart and get you attached to all of the main characters, sit down and take some time to watch The Rescuers Down Under.

3. Meet the Robinsons

While we’re on the topic of adoption and reform of the United States child care and protection systems, lets dive into the complex and witty world of Meet the Robinsons. The main characters in this film are Lewis, Wilbur, Cornelius, and the antagonist, comedically named Goob. I could watch this movie over and over again because of its charismatic characters, wealth of aesthetic images, and the presence of one of my favorite Disney couples of all time. Meet the Robinsons is the story of an orphaned adolescent named Lewis who dreams of being an inventor, but can never seem to find the right family to adopt him due to his quirky nature and spikey red hair. In the orphanage, Lewis has a roommate called Goob who is a pessimistic and small child, obsessed with baseball and resentful of Lewis’s shenanigans. The night before Goob’s big baseball game, Lewis keeps him up all night to help finish his invention for the science fair. The next day at Goob’s game, he falls asleep on the field and misses the winning catch, causing him to be ostracized, plunging him into depression and leading to his hatred of Lewis as an adult. He is the antagonist of the movie and one of the creepiest yet most harmless Disney villains you’ll ever see.

This movie not only has great characters and extremely fun-to-watch sequences, but the real reason this movie is so great is the manner in which the main character Lewis grows and develops. The concept behind the movie is that Goob, as an adult, steals one of Lewis's time machines to spoil Lewis's past and prevent him from achieving his future. Lewis's son then uses another time machine to return to the past and stop Goob. The way Lewis learns is through the lens of his son (who has been raised by the future him, the man who has already had all the experiences and difficulties that Lewis will have). Additionally, Lewis also learns through the experience of Goob and by coming to the understanding that he doesn’t want to make the same mistakes that the villain did by holding onto what’s happened in the past. GO WATCH IT.

4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

People always claim that Disney is shallow and imposes unrealistic body expectations for both men and women, and while I do agree with that to some extent, I’d be willing to bet that most of those people have not watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This movie is Disney's spin on the old French tale of the menacing hunchback who lives in the bell tower of Notre Dame. As usual, Disney took the original tale and modified it, putting the story in the perspective of the original's villain and shedding a different light on the characters.

In Disney’s version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the hunchback is a man named Quasi Modo who lives in fear of the outside world because he’s been told his entire life-- by his “guardian,” so to speak-- that if people saw him they would fear him and hunt him down due to his physical deformity. However, Quasi Modo ends up meeting a beautiful gypsy woman who is always running from the law named Esmerelda. She sees past Quasi’s unusual appearance and befriends him after he helps rescue her from the king’s guards. The reason I enjoy this movie is because it looks at both appearances and handicaps/disabilities and emphasizes that none of that has to stop you. In the end, Quasi Modo is the hero and he can finally accept himself as being worth something. There’s a lot of singing, talking gargoyles, and a villain you can hate not just for his evil actions and demeanor, but for his awful hat.

5. Robin Hood

Robin Hood! Yet another old tale, this time English, that Disney has produced their own take on. This version of Robin Hood is portrayed by a full cast of animated woodland animals and stars the fox they call Robin Hood. If you haven’t heard the story of Robin Hood before, here’s all you need to know: Robin Hood is a bowman who lives amongst the people of a town called Nottingham, ruled over by the terrible and selfish Prince John who knows that his people are suffering and poor but continues to direct all the wealth to himself. Robin Hood and his band of merry men (which in the Disney version is really just his friend Little John) decide to steal money from Prince John and give it all to the poor people of Nottingham. This movie is a fantastic kid’s rendition of the originally bloody story that still communicates the message that doing the right thing sometimes means doing something that under other circumstances wouldn’t seem right. It’s a hard lesson for children to learn-- separating what’s right and what isn't based on the situation at hand. In any case, Robin Hood and Maid Marion are the cutest and this movie tugs at my heartstrings every time.

So what are you waiting for? Disney awaits!