The Best Disney Brothers And Sisters

Family can often be a touchy subject in Disney movies. If you’re a mother or father, odds are you won’t make it through the story. And that’s without even mentioning the parents who go on to be villains – kidnapping, murder, psychological torment, they’ve pretty much done it all in the Mouse House.

On the flipside, siblings tend to fare much better. In the face of loss and unspeakable evil, having a good brother or sister (biological or adopted) on your arm is always a plus; so we want to shout out the very best of them.

Fair warning to the types of people that somehow still don’t know what becomes of Bambi’s mum: there’ll be a sprinkling of story spoilers for the movies these precocious siblings come from. Pixie dust may let you fly, but it can’t unspoil you, so be careful!

Updated on November 26, 2024, by Bobby Mills: Last year, Disney celebrated 100 years of magic – and offing parents. Though many have soured on the company as they continue their morph into a gigantic global conglomerate, rather than an earnest storyteller, there’s no denying that when they hit, they hit. We thought we’d spruce up our article with a handful of new super siblings. Enjoy!

13 Anastasia And Drizella

Cinderella

Yes, it’s a bit odd to start the list off with two of the most deplorable Disney siblings ever conceived. But in terms of entertainment value? It’s tough to match these self-absorbed stepsisters.

When Cinderella’s father dies, she’s left in the care of the overbearing Lady Tremaine and her spoilt daughters. Throughout the film, they’re as cruel as humanly possible: ripping up Cinderella’s dresses, locking her in rooms, the works. They get their comeuppance when a chance meeting with Prince Charming whisks their precious chambermaid away.

But in Cinderella 2 and 3, we see a developing bond between the three sisters – particularly within Anastasia, who’s redeemed and befriends Cinderella.

12 Wendy, Michael, And John

Peter Pan

Peter Pan is a classic tale of childhood wish fulfilment. Who among us hasn’t dreamed of being spirited away from their boring home life (and stuffy, no-nonsense parents) to a fantasy world in the stars populated by pirates, fairies, and mermaids? Granted, when viewed from an adult perspective, Peter comes off like a creepy kidnapper – but that’s neither here nor there.

The Darling trio makes for an engaging band of rugrats to spend a movie with. Wendy, the eldest, is slowly losing touch with the imagination of her youth, and is being encouraged by her dad to grow up beyond fairytales. Then there’s John, the top-hatted wannabe aristocrat, who enjoys deploying words with more syllables than he can get his gums around. And wee little Michael, the toddler, is as sweet as a bowl of Neverland molasses.

11 Toulouse, Marie, And Berlioz

The Aristocats

These three kittens are adorable balls of fluff that find themselves embroiled in a money-making scheme. When their owner’s butler, Edgar, catches wind of the fact that he’ll be left out of her will… well, he cracks. A few sleeping pills in their evening milk, and they and their mum have been carted off and dumped in the Parisian countryside.

This trio behave exactly like real siblings: pulling faces at one another, bickering over asinine things, and constantly competing for their mother’s attention. But when they must team up with the suave Thomas O’Malley to get home, they recognise him as a potential father figure and turn the politeness ‘n’ charm on full blast.

Luckily, things work out – with many more siblings on the way by the film’s end.

10 Ariel’s Sisters

The Little Mermaid

Sing it with us now: Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, Alana… and Ariel. King Triton is evidently a fan of the letter ‘A’. That, or he’s trying to keep the Atlantica phone book to a single page for as long as possible.

These sisters are an interesting look at the pattern Ariel broke by being so strong-headed. All have followed exactly the path Triton demanded of them: singing in Sebastian’s concerts and just generally flitting about looking pretty. Though it’d be tough to tell them apart (go on, which one is Alana?) they’re perceptive enough of each other’s quirks to notice when Ariel’s acting odd.

9 Kenai, Sitka, And Denahi

Brother Bear

Brother Bear is an uneven movie, transforming from a touching celebration of Inuit culture into a generic buddy road trip. But that first third, where we simply follow the lives of three brothers, is unquestionably excellent. Each character has a distinct personality: Kenai’s the arrogant hothead, Sitka is the sage elder, and Denahi is impulsive but loves his family (to a fault).

Tragedy strikes when Sitka’s killed during a bear hunt, and Denahi swears revenge on the bear after it appears to have killed Kenai too. Only trouble is, Kenai actually happens to have been turned into a bear himself; so the mother of all misunderstandings takes place, and Denahi spends the rest of the film trying to gut his own brother. Gripping stuff.

8 Barley And Ian

Onward

Unlike the vast majority of Disney siblings that lose their parents, Barley and Ian Lightfoot have a unique opportunity: to wave a magic wand and cast a spell that’ll allow them to spend one more day with their deceased dad. Unfortunately, Ian isn’t such great shakes at magic, so they only manage to bring back their dad’s legs.

It turns out, though, that half a dad is all they need to have the adventure of their lives. Onward, despite being a wacky fantasy quest on the surface, is very much a character study of Barley and Ian’s relationship. Chris Pratt and Tom Holland bring raw emotion to the parts, and by the end – when Ian realises his brother has basically been a replacement father figure his whole life – you’ll be getting choked up.

7 Tadashi And Hiro

Big Hero 6

It was only a matter of time before The Disney Parent Curse affected a sibling. Hiro Hamada’s world is turned upside down when his genius brother, Tadashi, is killed in a fire at their college. Of course, later in the film we learn that the blaze was started on purpose. But the reason for the disaster isn’t as important as its character ramifications.

We get to spend a good chunk of the film with Tadashi before his death, and he’s a likeable guy. Innovative, smart, and able to think on his feet, he creates Baymax (and millions of dollars in Disney merchandising revenue in the process). The scene where Baymax reminds Hiro that “Tadashi is here,” via found footage? Sob.

6 The Parr Children

The Incredibles

Despite their name, the Parrs are anything but par for the course. In truth, they’re a family of superheroes forced into hiding after a series of lawsuits turned public opinion sour. And the Parr kids, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack, are having the toughest time.

Not only are their powers cool – Dash can run faster than sound, Violet can turn invisible and create forcefields, and Jack-Jack… has god mode – but you can relate to their struggles. Dash is abusing his speed to cause trouble in class, rather than putting it to good use in track meets, and Violet would rather be invisible than talk to her crush. All it takes for their self-esteem to improve, however, is an encounter with the villainous Syndrome. Ah, family outings.

5 Anna And Elsa

Frozen

The Arendellian royal family should need no introduction. Anna and Elsa are often cited as some of the best Disney siblings out there, and with good reason.

Things start out bleak for the sisters. When Elsa’s ice powers almost kill Anna as a child, Anna’s memories are wiped and the girls are forced to live in separate rooms. That kind of isolation breeds anxiety (in Elsa’s case) and naïveté, as Anna accepts a proposal from the first man she meets. That man is Hans, a scheming murderer who wants to assume control of the kingdom.

Fortunately, the sisters are able to repair their relationship with a simple “I love you,” which thaws Elsa’s frozen heart, and therefore Arendelle.

4 Huey, Dewey, And Louie

DuckTales

Oh, go on: we’ll include Webby in there too. Why not? She’s as functionally close to a fourth member of the triplets as any other character, and gets some major familial development in the 2017 DuckTales reboot series. That aside, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are bonafide staples of the Disneyverse. Dating back to the 1930s, they popped up in early Donald shorts when the writers needed a reason for him to stay home.

Most audiences, however, will be more familiar with their turn in DuckTales, which codified the trio, as well as their colour schemes. You won’t have much luck telling them apart until the 2017 iteration, where they suddenly gain individual characteristics: Louie’s a conniving moneymaker, Huey’s a stickler for the rules, and Dewey’s an adventuring cloud-cuckoo-lander.

3 Phineas And Ferb

They Know What They’re Gonna Do Today

Phineas and Ferb is a show that Disney just doesn’t seem able to truly part ways with. First, its initial run lasted far longer than anyone anticipated (a whopping nine years in a market where cartoons are lucky if they manage a quarter of that time).

Then, once it was “cancelled,” it kept coming back in the form of specials, and even a 2021 feature film. Finally, Disney dropped the pretense and announced that the show would fully return for two new seasons in 2024. In a way, it’s understandable: the anarchic wit and winning formula that made Phineas and Ferb a hit have lost none of their luster.

These two oddly-shaped stepbrothers are the perfect team. Talkative, forward-thinking Phineas is the one who puts together their daily outlandish projects, while Ferb is the silent type, focusing on the grunt work and preferring to speak only when there’s maximum comedic potential. Their antics ruffle their sister Candace’s feathers, but she loves ’em, really. Now, where’s Perry…

2 Mirabel, Luisa, And Isabela

Encanto

Encanto has the single largest principal cast of any Disney movie, clocking in at a staggering twelve named Madrigals. As such, the story rides or dies on the believability of the family’s bonds – and the three main sisters, Mirabel, Luisa, and Isabela, pass with flying colours.

Mirabel is the first member of her family to not receive a magical gift, and since then, her Abuela has treated her like a problem to be managed. In contrast, Isabela is pitch-perfect, with her stunning beauty and ability to make plants grow from thin air. You can feel the tension between them from the get-go.

Then there’s poor Luisa, whose superhuman strength makes her the target of the townsfolk’s demands. She’s cracking under the pressure. In the end, it takes the loss of the family’s powers, and several months of rebuilding, for everyone to heal.

1 Lilo And Nani

Lilo And Stitch

Sure, the movie’s title is Lilo and Stitch, and the unhinged blue puffball gets top billing on all the merch. But really, this is Lilo and Nani’s story. Easily the most groundbreaking, raw portrayal of a fractured sibling relationship in an animated flick, it makes up the half of the movie you skip past as a kid to get to the funny alien antics, and which you revisit as an adult only to discover it’s now your favourite part.

Forced into an awkward mother-daughter dynamic after their parents died in a car crash, both sisters have had to grow up much too fast. Nani, barely an adult, has had to abandon her promising surfing career to take care of Lilo; who herself has gone off the rails, processing her grief by beating up other children and generally acting out.

Their situation looks hopeless, until the arrival of the maniacal Stitch gives them some common ground. He turns out to be the missing piece that quite literally ‘stitches’ the family back together.