I don’t know if I’m just five years old internally, but I believe, deep in my soul, under layers of sarcasm and cynicism, that Disney animated movies are still FANTASTIC, even as a high school student, and I will fight to defend this stance. (Yes, I already know I’m a nerd and a dork and all that).

First of all, there’s a wide variety, especially of princess films, but even ones without princesses. So, if you’re not into princesses, there’s still Hercules or Dumbo or The Lion King or even Mulan (she’s technically not a princess!) The music is fantastic, and yes, I do listen to it in my car and sing along as I drive myself to SAT prep and suffer internally. “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” from Mulan and “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas are favorites and regular car jams of mine — they’re bops and I’m not ashamed to put that out there. But if the singing doesn’t float your boat, there’s still a bevy of animation-turned-live-action Disney movies with less or no singing, as well as some animated ones to choose from too — Alice in Wonderland or 101 Dalmatians.

Second, they’re all so well done. Animation always intrigues me because it’s a ton of work (and I’m certainly no artist, so I probably don’t even know the half of it). Each film is so well drawn, detailed without becoming overloaded, and stunning simply from the amount of work and artistry that must go into it: concept art, scripting, line art, color schemes, etc. Even the ones that were somewhat meant to be disasters in their own artistic way (I’m looking at you, Alice in Wonderland). I just enjoy the effort that shines through in the films. Again, yes, I understand I’m a dork.

Third, they’re comforting. There’s nothing I’d rather do when I’m stressed than watch a Disney movie — they’re so nostalgic and calming. They bring back all my childhood feelings, mainly being relaxed and not knowing what stress is, and let me unwind, which is something I firmly believe every high school student needs — an escape from the unending stress and responsibility that comes with high school, especially the final two years, and an entrance to childhood nostalgia. What better for the job than something that sends you right back to childhood?

Fourth, most movies and TV shows nowadays seem to be action movies or horror movies or just contain a lot of gore and angst in general. Knowing that there will be a happy ending is really reassuring. I suffer from extreme anxiety any time I watch TV, wondering if my favorite characters are going to make it (hellooooo, The Walking Dead), so at least I don’t have to worry about that with Disney films, because everyone always gets their happy ending.

Overall, Disney animated films are still great, even for high schoolers, and my point is proven through the variety, the style, the relaxation/childhood nostalgia factor, and the extremely vital factor that I don’t have to be worried about characters being killed off.