The 10 Goodest Disney Dog Movies From The '90s, Ranked

They bark, they shake, they track mud in the house, and sometimes they even do tricks. Never let it be said that Disney doesn't have a deep affinity for dogs; two of their most famous animated characters, Pluto and Goofy, are canines, after all.

During the 1990s, the House of Mouse put out a combination of heart-tugging realistic dog-centric dramas, including "White Fang" and "Homeward Bound." They also let loose some truly surreal productions, like the launch of the "Air Bud" series and a live-action remake (one of the studio's earliest) of "101 Dalmatians." There are, simply put, a number of Disney dog movie breeds. But if you're looking for the best of the best, we have a boatload of suggestions, ranked from the very worst to the very best. Sit and stay for Looper's list of the ten best Disney dog films — most of them theatrical, but some DVD and TV movie releases are here as well — to keep your tail wagging.

It's never a good sign when your film is a blatant rip-off of another well-trod piece of Disney IP. "You Lucky Dog" takes elements of "The Shaggy Dog" and its sequels but adds a scientific twist that harkens back to non-canine franchises like "Flubber." Sadly, the film doesn't even have a deep enough budget to buy a dog suit for its star, treating audiences instead to the sight of its lead actor scratching his ear for fleas with his foot.

Jack Morgan (Kirk Cameron) reads canine minds for a living. Disaster strikes when the city shuts down his business, but he soon inherits a dog, Lucky, and a mansion from a recent client — along with Lucky's $64 million trust fund. Unfortunately, according to the premonitions Jack keeps having, three of the people who are close to the pooch are trying to kill him. Jack also learns that he can share bodies with Lucky whenever the pup gets excited. That means that Jack can ferret out who's trying to kill the four-legged millionaire — if he can stop eating dog food, that is.

If you're not a very small child, the charms of this one will probably be lost on you — unless, that is, you'd like to treat yourself to the sight of Cameron digging in the dirt, face-down, looking for a lost dog bone.

"Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" (which shows up later in our list) was a modest box office success in 1993, so Disney turned it from a remake into a franchise, adding on to the adventures of Chance (Michael J. Fox), Sassy (Sally Field), and Shadow (Ralph Waite, taking over for the late Don Ameche) with a follow-up three years later. Audiences and critics agreed that the sequel wasn't very good, so it's not as well-remembered as the previous installment, in spite of the fact that the film reunites most of the first movie's cast.

This time out, the Burnford-Seavers decide to vacation in Canada, but their animals break loose in a panic while being transferred to their plane. The threesome must now survive on the streets of San Francisco while their family frantically looks for them. They join a large gang of animals called Riley's Gang, and Chance finds love with Delilah (Carla Gugino), but for their loving humans, it's a race against time before the furry trio is sent to the dog pound.

It's a more convincing sequel idea than the one that haunts "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," but the writing is much weaker for this installment of the trio's adventures. The movie has also aged poorly, with '90s-isms springing out all over. It also adds way too many talking animals to the cast and far too many in-jokes about those talking animals. To wit: Tommy Lasorda and Bob Uecker voice Lucky Lasorda and Trixie Uecker, respectively. In the end, it's the kind of movie that opened the door for a whole host of rancid talking animal movies.

It's not quite as much fun as the original "Air Bud" (which shows up further down the list), but kids will probably still get a kick out of the football-based sequel "Air Bud 2: Golden Receiver," which sees the lovable golden retriever take his moves off of the court and onto the field. 

Josh Framm (Kevin Zegers) is dealing poorly with his mom's recent reentry into the dating pool. When Dr. Patrick Sullivan (Gregory Harrison), his mom's veterinarian boyfriend, tosses a football and Buddy effortlessly catches it, the golden retriever looks like he might be the missing ingredient Josh's high school football team, the Fernfield Timberwolves, needs. But when a group of nogoodniks decides to kidnap Buddy and sell him to a Russian circus, the pooch's freedom (and football career) is threatened. Can Buddy get Josh's team to the championship, evade capture, and help Josh accept the new man in his mom's life?

This would be the last time Disney would place Bud's adventures in theaters since this one flopped at the box office. The "Air Bud" franchise would diminish from here as the pup's uncanny proficiency in baseball, soccer, and other sports and his exploits became strictly DVD releases. It also begat a whole slew of spin-offs, including the "Buddies" series of films about adorable talking puppies.

"Iron Will" is another one of Disney's films that's based on an inspiring real-life tale. The film fictionalizes the life of Fred Hartman, turning him into Will Stoneman (Mackenzie Astin), a young man who rises from his job as a South Dakota mail carrier to a contestant in the Red River-St. Paul Sports Carnival Derby, a 522-mile dog sled race. Will takes the challenge on as a tribute to his recently deceased dad and to prevent the family from having to sell their team of sled dogs. It will also help pull the Stoneman farm out of debt and perhaps even pay for the college that Will's just been accepted to. But in order to win, he's going to have to go through all matter of travail, including facing down freezing temperatures and harsh winter weather. It's Will and his dogs against the world.

Despite the overall quality, "Iron Will" is less of a story about the dogs and more of a tale about man fighting nature, which is why this movie ranks so low on our list. But some of the nicest shots in the film involve a bunch of huskies mushing through mounting piles of snow, and Stoneman's story is a genuinely heartbreaking and suspenseful journey.

Jack Conroy (Ethan Hawke) makes way for Henry Casey (Scott Bairstow), who ends up in a whole new world of trouble with White Fang in this sequel to the 1991 film. Unfortunately, audiences didn't cotton to Casey, which means the prospective franchise died with this installment.

In the film's opening, we see Conroy take off for California early — undoing the very powerful ending of the first movie — leaving Casey to mind his silver mine as well as White Fang. The half-wolf soon becomes the subject of a prophetic dream experienced by Indigenous American Moses Joseph (Al Harrington), a member of the Haida Nation. The dream tells him that White Fang will help end his tribe's starvation. Moses' daughter, Lily (Charmaine Craig), connects with Henry, and they set out to fulfill her father's vision while White Fang falls in love with a mysterious female white wolf. Opposing their journey is Reverend Leland Drury (Alfred Molina), who hopes to starve the Haida off their land for his own selfish gain.

There's something intriguing in the way the movie sets up Henry's journey, and it provides an honest look at the Haida Nation's all-too-real troubles, but in the end, the sequel doesn't quite hit in the way that the first "White Fang" does.

Way before "The Little Mermaid," years before "Beauty and the Beast," "101 Dalmatians" was one of Disney's first attempts at transforming one of its animated films into a theatrical live-action franchise. Despite it's massive box office success, decades later, it's probably best remembered for its costume design — something adults are more likely to notice about the film than kids – and Glenn Close's go-for-broke portrayal of Cruella de Ville.

This version moves the action to the modern era, with Roger Dearly (Jeff Daniels) as a video game designer instead of a songwriter. But Anita Campbell-Green (Joely Richardson) is still a fashion designer, and Pongo and Perdita still fall in love at first sight and nudge their humans together. Cruella is Anita's boss instead of her college friend, but she still wants to skin the black-spotted canines to make a coat for herself. She kidnaps Pongo and Perdita's puppies — along with dozens of others — forcing the dogs to take matters into their own hands, err, paws.

The success of "101 Dalmatians" helped launch a fresh start for the franchise; a sequel film was released in 2000, as well as a direct-to-video sequel to the animated series, which was followed by a Saturday morning TV show. Years later, Disney would give the franchise's villain her own prequel, "Cruella," starring Emma Stone, but nothing will ever top Close's wild work as the classic character.

It's the film that begat a hundred jokes, but as a modest theatrical hit, it fattened Disney's coffers quite admirably. Spawning a cottage industry, "Air Bud" helped lead Disney into its direct-to-DVD era, and that's no mean feat. And even if much of the franchise's home video releases smell like dog doo, the original remains a charming story about a boy and his pup.

Josh Framm (Kevin Zegers) is coping poorly with his father's death. On top of that, he and the rest of his family have moved to a new state for a fresh start. Josh attracts the attention of a bully, and his life is the pits, but his luck turns around when he meets Buddy, a golden retriever who's run away from his previous owner, an abusive party clown named Norm Snively (Michael Jeter). Josh ends up earning a spot on his new school's basketball team, with Bud becoming a star and mascot thanks to the tricks he learned working with Norm. While the clown tries to get the dog back, Bud finds himself actually playing on the team alongside Josh. But which owner will Bud stay with in the end?

It's a weird little premise for a weird little movie, but it's also very charming and has a sense of humor about itself. '90s kids everywhere watched their VHS copies of "Air Bud" until they were faded and jumpy, and there's a reason why the film is still looked upon so fondly nearly thirty years later.

Adapting Jack London's "White Fang" into a family-friendly crowd-pleaser is no mean feat. While the entire book is told from the point of view of the titular dog, this 1991 adaptation chooses to change and simplify the story, honing in on the human who tames White Fang into becoming a loyal pet and ending the movie before he returns to San Francisco.

Jack Conroy (Ethan Hawke) is trying to make a name for himself in Alaska. Having recently joined the Gold Rush of 1896, he's just one of hundreds of men looking to stake a rich claim. During Jack's journey to Alaska, he takes custody of an orphaned wolfdog pup. White Fang is a wild child of nature, but Jack seeks to tame him while trying to land himself a silver mine claim.

While some things are lost in translation thanks to the way the movie adapts the book, much of "White Fang" works as both a family film and a historical epic, holding up even for today's audiences.

"A Goofy Movie" has become a classic in Disney's animated canon. While it never got the critical respect afforded to "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," or "The Lion King," it's a source of fond memories for anyone who grew up in that era.

A sequel to the "Goof Troop" animated series, the movie catches up with Goofy (voiced by Bill Farmer) and Max (Jason Marsden) three years after the events of that show. On the last day of school, Max manages to get himself in trouble after he catches the eyes of Roxanne (Kellie Martin), his longtime crush. Max makes a date with Roxanne to watch a concert for the band they both like, Powerline. He lies grandiosely about his vacation with Goofy (they're taking a summer road trip to go fishing in Idaho) to impress Roxanne, saying they'll be at the Powerline concert in person ... in California. In reality, a sullen Max trails Goofy through the highways and byways of America, never thinking that he and his pop will bond and learn way more about each other in the days to come. Goofy wants to spend some time with his son, clearly anxious about losing him the way he lost his late wife  — something only a grown-up might notice rewatching the movie – but all Max wants to do is experience some good times and impress Roxanne.

Something of a cult classic these days, the movie inspired a direct-to-DVD sequel, "An Extremely Goofy Movie," which was released in 2000.

Older generations have the exploits of Old Yeller and Lassie as their tear-jerking, heartbreaking dog stories, but '90s kids will always be able to cry over Chance, Sassy, and Shadow's odyssey through the wilderness to find their humans. If you've never sobbed your way through Shadow emerging from that underbrush and running toward Peter (Benj Thall) after moving heaven and earth to be with his boy, well, you're missing out. 

When the recently-joined Bunford-Seaver household is stricken with a sudden crisis, the entire family moves to San Francisco to accommodate patriarch Bob's (Robert Hays) new job. In the hubbub, the family pets are left with mom/Laura's (Kim Greist) rancher friend. A missed connection results in the animals being left alone, which in turn makes the trio believe that they've been abandoned. Faithful Shadow refuses to accept that his master would do such a thing, and he encourages his siblings to track the family down, all the way to San Francisco. It will be a dangerous trip that will require Chance to grow up, Sassy to be less standoffish, and Shadow's faith to be tested. 

The way the idea is handled — somewhere between the naturalism of "Milo and Otis" but miles away from the film's corny sequel — is just right, and the emotional stakes feel very real. That makes this one a childhood classic worthy of being passed along to the next generation.