On October 16, 2023, Disney celebrated 100 years of magic, from movies, television shows, theme parks and an improbable corporate identity that has become beloved all on its own. Disney's most significant impact is the cinematic canon that defined the company, and as is to be expected from such an iconic company, it has gone through a lot of changes in its century-long history.

Disney has had eight distinct eras that shaped the company and altered the course of its vaunted animation. Each generation has had highs and lows – some more than others – but each has had its clear place in the Disney timeline. Despite facing various hardships, Disney has continued to delight fans of all ages with its timeless takes on classic fairy tales and original stories that resonate just as deeply. Every Disney fan has their favorite film -- and the era that created it accordingly -- but some rank better than others in performance and quality.

Updated by Robert Vaux and Ajay Aravind on April 29, 2024: Disney has gone through successive eras over the last century, culminating in eight notable generations. Although each time period has its advantages and faults, it's clear that some of them are considerably better than others. As such, we've updated this list with some more relevant information regarding all the Disney eras.

Disney Era	Chronology
The Golden Age	1937 – 1942
The Wartime Era	1942 – 1949
The Silver Age	1950 – 1967
The Bronze Age	1970 – 1977
The Dark Ages	1981 – 1988
The Renaissance	1989 – 1999
The Experimental Era	1999 – 2008
The Revival Era	2009 – Present Day

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9 Honorable Mention: The Pixar Era Helped Propel Computer Animation

Pixar has become an integral part of Disney. Beginning in the 1980s, it produced an innovative series of CGI shorts before changing the game with 1995's Toy Story. The next few years saw the company produce an extraordinary series of animated classics, even with the Disney renaissance era in full swing. The animation company formally joined Disney in 2006, after relying on them for distribution during their first decade. Pixar has woven itself into the Experimental and Revival eras, and while hasn't defined one aspect of Disney's history, many Pixar movies have set box office records and helped earn the Disney Company billions of dollars in the process.

Pixar has propelled computer animation and helped Disney escape traditional pencil-and-paper animation practices. Movies like Inside Out and Up! are favorites of adults and children alike with their emotional storylines and strong characters. Whether fans love Pixar short films or their full-length movies, Pixar's involvement in Disney has changed Disney fans' perspective on what an animated film can be.

8 The Dark Ages Weren't Nearly as Bad in Retrospect

1981 – 1988

The passing of Walt Disney in 1966 threw his company into chaos. By the late 70s, it tried to move beyond the fairy-tale animated features it had been known for. movies like The Black Cauldron and The Fox and the Hound steered well clear of the Disney formula, as did films aimed at more adult audiences, such as Tron and The Black Hole. Their movies were less whimsical and more serious than fans were used to, which made many wonder if the films were even suitable for children. Most of them bombed, badly, and even the successful ones felt like minor entries at best. For a time, Disney was better known for its theme parks than for anything notable that appeared onscreen.

After years out of the depths of Disney's Dark Ages, many fans agree that this era actually wasn't all that bad. The company's push into grown-up filmmaking led to the creation of Touchstone Pictures: responsible for such 80s classics as Splash, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Good Morning, Vietnam. The likes of Tron and The Fox and the Hound all enjoy solid reputations, despite their early box office struggles, and bright spots like Oliver & Company -- which retold the story of Oliver Twist with a catchy soundtrack -- remain interesting additions to the library. While Oliver & Company wasn't showered with praise, its musical format pointed the way for the Renaissance to come.

7 The Bronze Age Gave Fans a New Set of Beloved Disney Characters

1970 – 1977

The Bronze Age of Disney is still best known for the opening of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida in 1971. Along with Disneyland in California, it established the company as a theme park powerhouse. Conversely, it also spelled one of the worst eras for Disney in terms of animated output. With most of Disney's money going toward the theme park, the animators of the Bronze Age had to cut corners, which resulted in aesthetically less pleasing films. The Aristocats suffered from a poor animation style, with many scenes looking half-finished. And with the leadership vacuum following Disney's death in 1966, there simply wasn't a vision required to move the company forward.

However, this period also ushered in The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh​​​​​, which gave Disney a new beloved cast of characters to play with. New films such as Robin Hood gave the Disney formula a good shake -- and have held up well over the years -- while the likes of The Rescuers marked the emergence of new voices in animation such as Don Bluth. The apparent differences between the Bronze Age and the Silver Age made it seem like Disney was going downhill. As is the case with any good fairytale, however, things must get worse before improving.

6 The Wartime Era Changed the Disney Landscape in Many Ways

1942 – 1949