If there’s one thing you can count on with a Disney story, it’s that you’re going to have your heartstrings tugged. You’ll probably laugh, cry, and feel everything in between. We know that seeing how storybook characters handle their emotions helps kids learn how to talk about their own feelings. This is an important skill for all children—and adults—to master. Reading emotional stories together gives you the opportunity to discuss difficult feelings and brainstorm positive ways to handle them. Want to share some of those feelings with your child? These Disney classics, both old and new, are sure to hit the mark.

Love

• Tangled: Rapunzel’s sheltered life goes in a new direction thanks to the power of true love.
• Lady and the Tramp: This classic love story about two dogs and the life they create together is the ultimate Disney romance.

• Up: When an elderly man plans a trip to save his former home, an unexpected stowaway creates an entirely unexpected set of problems!
• Cinderella: Haven’t we all wished that we could have the surprise of a fairy godmother swooping in to change our lives for the better? Cinderella never could have predicted her rags-to-riches story.

Loneliness

• WALL-E: A lone robot cleaning up the remnants of Earth’s trash spends his life living and working by himself… until another robot shows him an entirely new world.
• The Little Mermaid: Ariel is a mermaid who wants to walk on land more than anything. She feels alone and alienated from the rest of her sea world.  And then…

• The Incredibles: Mr. and Mrs. Incredible try to live like a normal family to protect their children, but they can’t keep their superpowers under wraps when evil forces become stronger again. A family who fights evil together, stays together!
• Pinocchio: Gepetto makes a wooden doll to keep him company. When Pinocchio comes to life, he makes some bad choices and finds himself in serious trouble. He turns around when he realizes that reuniting with his father is more important than anything.

Feeling Different

• Finding Nemo: Nemo the clownfish was born with an undersized fin, but he has an oversized zest for life and adventure.
• Dumbo: Poor Dumbo is born with enormous ears; all the animals in his circus troupe tease him constantly. But those ears come in handy when it turns out he can use his difference to fly!

• Frozen: Anna’s love for her sister, Elsa, is unconditional. Once Elsa accepts her sister’s sacrifices and true love, she is able to rid herself of her wintery powers and live a normal life.
• Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too: Rabbit is annoyed by Tigger’s constant bouncing. But when Tigger is “unbounced,” things just aren’t the same! Rabbit learns that Tiggers are wonderful just the way they are.

Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, Fear

(Okay, that’s five… but they’re all in one package!)

• Inside Out: The ultimate emotional story covers each of these five feelings in depth as a pre-teen comes to terms with the changes in her life and her conflicting feelings about them.