15 Best Live-Action Disney Movies Based On True Stories, Ranked By IMDb

Disney has an incredible legacy of telling a good story. They aren’t perfect, but they’ve made endless family classics through the years, and many of those films are live-action. While some aren’t critical successes or long-lasting favorites, others are remembered fondly long after they are released.

Thanks to Disney+, many of the best Disney movies can be re-watched easily. These films tell inspirational stories that are based on true people and/or events, proving that Disney doesn’t always turn to the fictional or the fantastical in order to craft a compelling narrative.

Updated on May 28th, 2021 by Kristen Palamara: Disney movies are known for creating new stories to tell in creative ways and they always have a lot of heart at the center of the film, but there is also a category of Disney movies that take an already existing story about true events and turn it into a successful and lovable movie. Most of the movies Disney has made based on real events are about sports from baseball to basketball to football and even bobsledding and horse racing. Here are some well-known Disney movies, as well as some hidden gems, that are based on real life.

15 Cool Runnings (1993) — 7.0

Cool Runnings was based on the true story of the first Jamaican national bobsledding team who competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Canada, and Disney released a movie based on the story a few years later.

The movie follows the underdog team on their journey to the Olympics and is considered one of the best sports movies in the genre.

14 Million Dollar Arm (2014) — 7.0

Million Dollar Arm is based on the true story of a sports agent attempting to save his career by finding unknown star pitchers and helping them be successful in the professional baseball world.

J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) travels to India to scout two highly regarded cricket players, Rinku Singh (Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh Patel (Madhur Mittal) and convinces them to try their pitching talents in American baseball.

13 Glory Road (2006) — 7.2

Glory Road is based on the lead-up to the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship and the Texas Western team, which was the first team to have an all-Black starting lineup in an NCAA title game.

The movie follows coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) who decides to build his team based solely on talent instead of race. The addition of starting Black players on the team upsets fans and townspeople in Texas during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

12 Secretariat (2010) — 7.2

Disney’s Secretariat is loosely based on the real racing horse, Secretariat. The movie follows Penny Chenery (Diane Lane) taking over managing her family’s thoroughbred horses after her father (Scott Glenn) becomes sick and can’t take care of things.

Chenery and the veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich) work together to train Secretariat, who ends up making history as the Triple Crown winner in 1973.

11 Eight Below (2006) — 7.3

Eight Below is a movie for the fearless adventurers out there, ready for viewing on Disney+. Jerry’s (Paul Walker) eight sled dogs are stranded in Antarctica during the most brutal of winters. They fight to survive without their owner until he is finally reunited with them.

This two-hour trek is not for the faint of heart, but many fans appreciate Disney’s modern dogsledding classic. Eight Below is one of many dog-focused movies based on real events, this one inspired by a Japanese Antarctica expedition from 1958.

10 McFarland, USA (2015) — 7.4

McFarland, USA is a Disney sports movie based on the true story of a coach connecting with a track and field team of students as the group becomes champions.

Track coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) is the new coach for a predominately Latino high school in the 1970s. The movie follows the differences between the white coach and Latino students and how, similar to other movies on this list, they overcome their differences to create a bond and succeed due to the team’s work ethic, talent, and strong support system.

9 Selma, Lord Selma (1999) — 7.4

Jurnee Smollett is Sheyann Webb, a young girl who witnesses one of the most important chapters in Civil Rights history. The Alabama citizen is inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 and takes part in the march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama with her friend Rachel (Stephanie Zandra Peyton).

The famed march was a wearying labor of fifty miles on foot, ultimately leading to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This Wonderful World of Disney film is, sadly, currently missing from Disney+.

8 The Ernest Green Story (1993) — 7.4

The Ernest Green Story is a rare Disney Channel Premiere Film that Disney+ subscribers need. Ernest Green was a part of the Little Rock Nine, the group of African-American students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Even though Governor Faubus tried to impede the integration plan, President Eisenhower sent troops to protect Green and his colleagues.

After high school, Ernest Green earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University, served as President Jimmy Carter’s assistant secretary of the Labor Department, and became a professional in education initiatives as well as employment law.

7 Queen Of Katwe (2016) — 7.4

Madina Nalwanga is Phiona Nutesi, a Ugandan young woman who learns that she is a genius at chess. Lupita Nyong’o is Phiona’s mother, Nakku Harriet. Phiona helps care for her little brother and sells maize with her mom.

With some guidance from Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), Phiona practices her game and becomes the champion she was always meant to be. See her inspiring story on Disney+.

6 The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) — 7.4

Shia LaBeouf plays Francis Ouimet, a golfer who starts out as a hard-working caddy and, through practice and determination, works his way up to the 1913 US Open. Ouimet defeats his idol, Harry Vardon, in this Disney depiction of true events.

With the film releasing only a couple of years after Even Stevens, Shia LaBeouf quickly began to establish himself as a serious and versatile actor.

5 Miracle (2004) — 7.5

Miracle is a hockey movie set in 1980. Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is tasked with coaching the US Men’s Olympic Hockey Team. The film combines the political tensions of the Cold War with the goal of winning against the Soviet Union’s team.

Brooks turns an unruly group of college guys into an unstoppable unit. The real Herb Brooks went on to a prolific career, including NHL Coach of the Year. He was tragically killed in a car accident in 2003, just a year before the movie’s release.

4 Saving Mr. Banks (2013) — 7.5

Though it is very loosely based on real events, Saving Mr. Banks paints a fascinating picture of P.L. Travers’ working relationship with Walt Disney when Disney sought to bring her novel to the screen. Mary Poppins is a timeless treasure, and Saving Mr. Banks colorfully guides viewers through the creation of the classic film’s songs and storylines.

The hours with Disney are juxtaposed with snapshots of P.L. Travers’ complicated childhood. Emma Thompson (Travers) and Tom Hanks (Disney) were the perfect choices for the lead roles.

3 Love Leads The Way (1984) — 7.7

In this Disney Channel Premiere Film— which is not currently on Disney+— Morris Frank is one of the first Americans to employ a Seeing Eye dog after he becomes blind in a boxing accident. The man’s German Shepherd comes straight from the Seeing Eye founder, Dorothy Eustis.

In 1929, the real Morris Frank (pictured above) co-founded The Seeing Eye, a school for guide dogs in Morristown, New Jersey.

2 Remember The Titans (2000) — 7.8

In 1971, Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) becomes the head coach of a newly integrated high school football team in Virginia. The former coach, Bill Yoast (Will Patton), is demoted to assistant coach. The coaches must teach their players how to truly be a team while also learning to work together themselves.

The highly accomplished movie is the recipient of two NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture, and Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Washington.

1 The Straight Story (1999) — 8.0

Alvin Straight is a widower and retired farmer who learns that his brother, Lyle, has suffered a devastating stroke. Alvin decides to make amends with Lyle before it is too late, but there is one major obstacle.

Alvin must travel from Iowa to Wisconsin on a lawnmower since he does not have a vehicle or a driver’s license. This little-known movie about the long road to family reconciliation is available on Disney+.

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