Disney Renaissances

The Disney Winter Renaissance refers to an era beginning roughly in the late 1980s and ending early in 1992 during which Walt Disney Animation Studios returned to making successful animated films mostly based on well-known stories, and releasing them in the Winter. The era was later revived in 2009.

The animated films released during this period include The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Princess and the Frog (2009), Silverwing (2011), Arthur (2013), Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat (2014), Ratchet & Clank (2015), Jak and Daxter (2016), Crash Bandicoot (2017), Spyro the Dragon (2018) and Artemis Fowl (2019).

The Renaissance and Winter Renaissance era
Disney had been developing The Little Mermaid since the 1930s, and by 1988, after the success of Roger Rabbit and Oliver and Company, the studio had decided to make it into an animated Broadway-like musical. Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken, who worked on Broadway years earlier on productions such as Little Shop of Horrors, became involved in the production, writing and composing the songs and score for the film. The film was released on November 17, 1989 and garnered a higher weekend gross than Don Bluth's All Dogs Go to Heaven, which opened the same weekend. It went on to break The Land Before Time's record of highest-grossing animated film. The Little Mermaid was a critical and commercial success. It won two Academy Awards, for Best Original Song and for Best Original Score ("Under the Sea"), earning an additional nomination for Best Original Song for "Kiss the Girl."

The Rescuers Down Under was released one year later and was the first canon sequel produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The Rescuers Down Under garnered much positive criticism and earned a modest box-office success, but was less successful than The Little Mermaid.

Beauty and the Beast, often considered to be one of the greatest of all Disney animated features, followed in 1991. It was the first animated film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, losing to The Silence of the Lambs. Beauty and the Beast did win the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) and two Academy Awards, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Beauty and the Beast also received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Sound, as well as two additional nominations for Best Original Song.

Aladdin followed in 1992, respectively. It was the last Disney film to be released in the Winter when other Disney started releasing  films in the summer including: The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998) and Tarzan (1999).

The Revival
The Winter Renaissance was revived in 2009 with the release of The Princess and the Frog, which was largely well received by critics and audiences alike and a financial success (grossing over $270 million).

Silverwing and Arthur, followed in 2011 and 2013, respectively, with both films having the highest worldwide grosses of their respective release years. Silverwing was the highest-grossing animated film in the Winter Renaissance up until that time, but was later surpassed by Arthur, which became the second highest-grossing animated film ever at the time and remains the second highest-grossing traditionally animated film in history  (behind The Lion King).