If you’re looking for some truly horrific films for Halloween, then Hulu is probably the Disney-owned streamer where you’ll get the most chills. But for families and others who want a touch of horror that’s a bit more kid-friendly, then Disney+ should be your streaming destination this Halloween.
Disney may not have a reputation for scares, but the animators have put together some delightfully spooky films over the last four decades that are perfect for this occasion. These are the three great Disney+ movies to stream on Halloween 2024.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
The Black Cauldron (1985)
The Black Cauldron has been called “the film that nearly killed Disney,” but that’s not through any fault of the movie itself. Audiences in 1985 simply weren’t ready for a PG-rated animated Disney film that has some very unsettling horror and a truly menacing villain in the Horned King (as voiced the late great actor John Hurt). The film has a story that is largely cobbled together from two books of Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain series, but it works as a standalone movie that’s been unfairly maligned for its attempt to break the Disney mold.
In the fantasy land of Prydain, a teenager named Taran (Grant Bardsley) is simply an “assistant pig-keeper” who has to look after Hen Wen, a pig who can grant visions of the future. The Horned King has Hen Wen kidnapped so she can lead him to the fabled Black Cauldron, which will allow him to create an invincible army of the undead known as the Cauldron-Born. Taran sets out to rescue Hen Wen, and he unexpectedly befriends Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan), Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne), and a strange creature known as Gurgi (John Byner) as they come together to search for the Black Cauldron as well as a way to destroy it.
Watch The Black Cauldron on Disney+.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Although Disney calls this holiday classic Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, it was actually directed by Henry Selick. Burton created the characters and the story, but he was largely hands off for the production of the film itself. This was a stop-motion animated movie at time when Disney was in its peak Renaissance era in the early ’90s. It was a little too weird for the time, but The Nightmare Before Christmas has grown to become one of Disney’s perennial favorites among fans.
Chris Sarandon lends his voice to Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town who has gotten a little bored with the holiday. However, Jack rediscovers the songs in his heart — with Danny Elfman providing Jack’s singing voice and the film’s score — when he learns about Christmas. Despite the misgivings of his one true love, Sally (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s Catherine O’Hara), Jack decides to embrace Christmas and take it over from Santa Claus (Ed Ivory). Unfortunately for Jack, the children of Earth are terrified when he gives Christmas a macabre Halloween-style makeover.
Watch The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+.
Frankenweenie (2012)
Unlike The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie was directed by Tim Burton. In fact, it’s a remake of the short film that got Burton fired from Disney in 1984 before anyone understood his more eccentric side as a filmmaker. The 2012 Frankenweenie is a black-and-white stop-motion animated flick that largely remixes Frankenstein through the lens of a Burton’s more kid-friendly take.
In this retelling, Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) is a student alongside Elsa Van Helsing (Stranger Things star Winona Ryder) and Edgar “E” Gore (Atticus Shaffer). After Victor’s beloved dog, Sparky, is hit and killed by a car, the budding scientist is inspired by his mentor, Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau), to bring his dog back to life. Victor’s experiment works, but he inadvertently sets off a chain reaction when other kids in his class start resurrecting their own dead pets and unleashing chaos.
Watch Frankenweenie on Disney+.
