11 Things to Watch on Disney+ on a Snow Day!
So, the kids are home from school, and you’re taking care of them. Everybody has a snow day, which means that cabin fever has set in.
Your family loves one another, but a child’s snow day enthusiasm can overwhelm the senses. Fortunately, you bought that Disney+ subscription. Here are 11 potential Disney+ streaming options for a cold winter day.
PS: I won’t tell you how to live your life, but a hot cup of cocoa and a warm blanket would make this much better. Pro tip: stick the blanket in the dryer for five minutes before you’re ready to relax!
10 Things I Hate About You
Back before Heath Ledger wowed everyone with his Academy Award-winning performance in The Dark Knight, he starred in several forgettable films. You may not have even heard of Lords of Dogtown or The Four Feathers, much less his early Australian work.
However, one early Ledger movie is well worth your time. 10 Things I Hate About You modernizes the story of The Taming of the Shrew as a high school romantic comedy. And it’s terrific.
Ledger’s character accepts money to date the older sister of popular Bianca. Julia Stiles portrays Kat, the damaged rocker whose façade collapses once Ledger’s Patrick Verona gets past the protective coat of armor. 10 Things is legitimately one of the best romcoms of the 21st century. It’ll warm your heart on a cold day.
Frozen
Is this one too on the nose for a snow day? I figure that you might as well lean into your plight. I certainly don’t have to tell you what Frozen is, as its sequel recently became the most successful animated blockbuster ever.
Instead, I’ll sell you on the idea that the comfort of an instant classic will help you pass the day. And you get to sing Let It Go as loud as you want in the comfort of your own home!
Disney Girl vs. Monster
Buffy the Vampire Slayer fundamentally altered the dynamic between monsters and teen girls. Joss Whedon created a new genre where the villainous creatures are the ones in danger. And this underrated Disney Channel movie is a charmer in that vein.
Disney teen star Olivia Holt plays Skylar Lewis, a girl whose family harbors a secret. They’re monster hunters, and she’s next in line. Early on, Skylar accidentally frees Deimata, a nefarious Ancient One that her parents had held in check. So, she spends the rest of the movie trying to stop Deimata from doing serious damage.
This film wins through casting. Holt has recently starred as a different superhero, Cloak, in Freeform’s Cloak and Dagger. Katherine McNamara plays her high school enemy in the movie. You likely know her as the star of Shadowhunters and as the daughter of/potential replacement for Arrow on The CW.
La Luna
Three generations of men share an essential task in this Pixar short. A boy joins his father and grandfather as they climb a latter to somewhere quite tall.
I won’t spoil the rest in case you’ve never seen it. However, this eight-minute short will cause any family watching it to feel closer together.
Lilo & Stitch
A couple of these suggestions double as encouragement. Please remember while you gaze outside at the snowfall that summer is only a few months away. Sure, you might have to shovel a mountain of snow right now, but you’ll buy a bathing suit soon enough.
Take this opportunity to watch a movie set on an exotic island that shows people surfing on a Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride. Dreaming of Hawaii will help you forget about your current plight.
Mary Poppins
You’re home, the kids are home, and it’s loud where you are. Trust me. At some point, you’re gonna fantasize about having the perfect nanny.
You might as well watch a movie with this very premise. It’ll help you reduce the rage when somebody spills red juice on a white rug.
National Treasure
Sometimes, you just want to sip a hot beverage on a cold day and watch something stupid. Enter Nicolas Cage! In 2004, before The Da Vinci Code became a movie, Dan Brown’s book had already dominated the book charts. Someone read it and thought, “Hey, let’s rip off that idea!” And they did!
Cage’s character, Benjamin Franklin Gates (you heard me), is a treasure hunting cryptologist. Try finding that job on LinkedIn! Anyway, through a comically implausible series of events, our hero must unearth a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. As I said, it’s gloriously stupid in just the right way.
National Treasure earned enough to finish in the top 10 for 2004, and Disney quickly made a sequel that did even better. Both of them are on Disney+ for you to watch/mock and have a good time.
Phineas and Ferb
You want to make the most of your snow day, right? Who could possibly teach you more about the perfect playdate than Phineas and Ferb? Binge-watch a few episodes, preferably ones where the boys play with ice.
I highly recommend S’Winter, which involves the boys marrying the premises of summer and winter into a single holiday. You’ll never feel more creative than while watching this show.
Teen Beach Movie/Teen Beach 2
Again, when you’re trapped inside on a snow day, nothing will cheer you up more than the thought of hanging out at the beach. This Disney Channel movie series mimics the Beach Blanket Bingo teen movies from the 1960s.
In fact, the main characters in Teach Beach Movie accidentally get transported inside a similar film, Wet Side Story. Here, they discover that bikers wage war in a territorial claim for Big Momma’s, a restaurant. It’s all a silly excuse for Disney to create another movie in the vein of High School Musical. And it co-stars Jordan Fisher!
Turner & Hooch
Hooch is crazy!
Look, the internet would lose like 85 percent of its traffic if people stopped posting animal pictures and memes. People feel connected to their furry friends, and this 1989 movie tapped into the idea. It’s a buddy cop movie, only the unlikely, unfriendly partners are a cop of a French mastiff.
Tom Hanks starred in this movie a couple of years before he became Tom Hanks. So, it’s from the era where he did slapstick comedy and got by solely on personality, much like in his recent hit, Big. Still, the movie really works despite the behind-the-scenes drama.
You’ll never believe this, but the original director was once of the nicest men in Hollywood, Henry Winkler. The Fonz lasted less than two weeks because one of the other nicest men in Hollywood hated him. The two fought so much that Jeffrey Katzenberg had to fire Winkler.
PS: You may want to check this site before watching it. I don’t want to bum you out. But I do think you’ll love Turner & Hooch.
Zootopia
Okay, you probably shouldn’t let the kids know that snow days make you feel like you’re living in a zoo.
Simply savor the subtle joke that flies over their heads while you watch one of Disney’s best recent animated movies. Also, I don’t know about you, but Mr. Big, the arctic shrew, always cracks me up.