10 Disney movies that should be made into Broadway musicals

With Disney having a huge presence on Broadway, these 10 films are each perfect for the next big stage musical!

Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson, Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson, and Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson in HOCUS POCUS 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Matt Kennedy. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson, Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson, and Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson in HOCUS POCUS 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Matt Kennedy. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Enchanted

DISENCHANTED
Amy Adams as Giselle in Disney's live-action DISENCHANTED, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Jonathan Hession. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

One issue with this 2007 movie moving to the stage is that the fun is watching Giselle move from a classic Disney animated fairy tale into the real world. Maybe the stage version can put its own spin on it by starting like a classic 1950s big bombastic musical and when Giselle enters New York, it becomes more of a stripped-down affair.

We’d still get the fun songs like “That’s How You Know” with more added and it’d be awesome to see Queen Narissa get her own villain song. It can offer some sly in-jokes about the Broadway format and Disney itself. This really should be considered as a fun musical to break a few rules of the genre. 

Finding Nemo 

USA - Business - Disney World
USA - Business - Disney World | Orjan F. Ellingvag/GettyImages

There’s an excellent reason Pixar’s 2003 Oscar-winner can be a Broadway hit. Since 2007, guests at the Dinoland area of Animal Kingdom have been treated to a 40-minute musical using puppetry and nice effects to tell the story. It’s impressive given the original movie never had songs yet these fit well. A newer version premiered and much like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Frozen, it almost seems like a dry run for a Broadway expansion.

A full show will add more songs and characters, delve more into Dory’s past, and pull off bits like the turtle wave race, sharks, and more. It’d be a unique show with the actors and puppets put together and should follow past Disney park musicals leaping to the big Broadway stage.