Summary
Science fiction is a popular genre, and you’re able to’t fault a movie production company for going where the money is. Uncle Walt was a visionary when it came to what was a fledgling genre in the early days of Disney, and ensured that “Tomorrowland” would be a central part of the earliest designs for Disneyland.
Fast-forward a few decades into the future, and Disney has an impressive library of science fiction titles that go back decades. The older films that were misunderstood in their own time get more positive attention these days, and several new titles are just as inspiring.
Updated on May 27th, 2025, by Kristy Ambrose:Disney continues to enlarge and improve their already vast science fiction library. As the entertainment genre evolves, that means video games and streaming TV shows in addition to the movies and their reboots or remakes. Several of the following selections also have sequels or updated versions, and others have had such a profound impact on society that they have expanded into franchises that include merchandise and fan conventions.
Flubberis a modern remake of another Disney title that dates back to the 1960s,The Absent-Minded Professor,a black-and-white movie that was nicknamed “Flubber” in its own time. This time, Philip Brainard is a professor working on alternative energy sources when he stumbles upon a formula that combines rubber and kinetic energy.
The older movie had the advantage of being unique in a market that didn’t have a lot of selection when it came to science fiction, outside of B-movies about alien invasions or marauding kaijus, but the modern version didn’t have the same clout. It retains a family-friendly charm and hasthe brilliant talent of Robin Williams, one of the few actors who can be just as dynamic as the Flubber itself.
The late 1970s were a boom time for science fiction, with other genres like space opera and science fantasy also emerging from the entertainment nether.The Black Holewas a part of this wave, and it was the most expensive movie that Disney had ever made until that point, so its failure at the box office was that much more devastating.
Despite the critics who said the film was a boring and cringeworthy melodrama, viewers noticed the complicated special effects and large-scale, risky stunts and action scenes. The legacy of the show lives on with the same techniques and tropes appearing in modern disaster films and space opera narratives, from the adorable robots to the brilliant but misguided scientist.
Tronwould make perfect sense to a contemporary audience familiar with video games and programming codes, but it was a weird mess to folks in the early 1980s, most of whom had never even used a home computer before. The mix of cartoons and practical effects didn’t work very well either. In its time, the movie faced a lot of criticism and was considered to be a commercial failure.
Despite the naysayers,Tronalways had a cult following, and its legacy hasprompted a whole franchise, which includes video games and books, along with a few more movies. Time can’t heal wounds like bad pacing and clunky special effects, but stars Jeff Bridges and David Warner manage to keep the story together, and the premise is way ahead of its time.
Why not take the concept of body horror and make it fun? To be serious, here’s another moment when Disney takes the concept of terrifying science and makes it less apocalyptic, even entertaining, and gives the genre a new dimension.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kidsis one of those movies that takes place in only one or two locations, but thanks to some brilliant special effects and clever writing, nothing more is needed. Rick Moranis is also perfectly cast as the bumbling but lovable Wayne Szalinski, a stay-at-home dad and inventor, who invents a laser that can both shrink and enlarge a variety of things, including his kids.
Medfield College, the setting of many Disney movies in the 1960s, doesn’t have a computer, so the administration is willing to accept a free one donated by a shady dealer without a lot of investigation. While a few enthusiastic students are plugging it in, an electrical surge turns one of them, Dexter Reilly (played by Kurt Russell), into a “human computer.”
What this means is that Dexter knows everything the computer knows, which includes the information about an illegal gambling ring run by its previous owner. In an interesting twist that might have been a prediction of passwords and hidden files, only a special trigger word can prompt Dexter to reveal the secret information.
Years beforeE.T.andStarmanwere released, Disney adapted a science fiction novel about benign aliens on the run from malevolent human security forces. The movie adaptation ofEscape To Witch Mountainwas popular enough to start a whole franchise and inspired remakes in 1995 and 2009.
Tony and Tia Malone have always had mysterious powers that include telekinesis and telepathy, and the “star case” that they carry with them carries a strange map that leads to a mysterious location, Witch Mountain. As they flee from a variety of authorities towards the mountain, their clouded past starts to unravel, and the twist at the end of the story is that they are not magical or enhanced, but beings from another planet.
As far as the profits can tell,John Carterwas one of Disney’s biggest box office failures to date, and as one of the most expensive movies ever, few other studios would have been able to absorb such a loss. Years of development hell and moving this production between studios didn’t help either, and the marketing campaign was equally confusing.
A Princess of Marsis a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs that everyone thought would make a great movie.Whether or not it succeededdepends on who you ask, with the movie doing poorly stateside but well-received overseas thanks to the great visuals and effects.
A mysterious UFO crashes into Fort Lauderdale and is immediately confiscated by the US Army. It seems to have no windows, doors, wings, an engine, or any discernible markings. This design was some advanced CGI at the time, more than had been used in any other movie to date, and it still looks impressive today. At the same time, a boy named David, who has been missing for eight years, reappears at his family home only a few miles away.
Although the ship appears to be silent, it is speaking to David, who has been used as a “navigator” for the ship and has the information in his brain that the automated Trimaxion Drone Ship, aka Max, needs to travel back to its home planet. NASA intern Carolyn McAdams, played by Sarah Jessica Parker in one of her earliest film appearances, contacts David’s family to reveal his whereabouts, which gets them mixed up with the army, Secret Service, FBI, and everyone else looking for the ship.
WALL-Eisaworthy environmental message about what humans leave behind, and it was made by Pixar after the studio was acquired by Disney. The studio wanted to continue using the animation style that made the underwater setting ofFinding Nemolook so good, and the next natural step was outer space.
Audiences and critics alike loved this movie, not only for the outstanding visuals but also for the story, characters, and themes about the global impact of rampant consumerism, corporate waste, and even obesity. It’s considered to be such a significant contribution to the art that as of 2021, a copy ofWALL-Ehas been in the National Film Registry in the U.S. Library of Congress.
20,000 Leagues Under the Seacould be one of thebest examples of science fictionmovies and novel adaptations in history, plus it’s got an amazing cast and practical effects that stand the test of time. Walt Disney produced it himself, which means he put his own money into the project, and it was one of the first movies ever filmed using the anamorphic lenses of CinemaScope.
For decades, the most popular ride in Disneyland included a full-size copy of the Nautilus.20,000 Leagues Under the Seais still famous for the scene that features a fight with a giant squid, and James Mason’s performance as Captain Nemo is iconic. It won two Academy Awards years before science fiction films were considered to be serious contenders.
