Few people realize it, but there's a lot more to Disney films than meets the eye. the animated films of the Disney corporation contain some really interesting concepts that actually transcend their traditional appearance as family-friendly entertainment.
Let's take The Lion King for the first example. First, the plot is inspired by the Shakespeare play Hamlet, widely considered the greatest written work in the English language. Beyond that, however, there is much in the film which goes beyond simple, childish entertainment.
Right off the bat, we find the character Scar: an ambitious, heartless bastard. Not only does he murder his brother on screen, but he coldly orders his hyena henchmen to kill his own nephew, Simba, in what is basically an effort to secure his position as king. It's not even the first time he tries to kill Simba, as earlier in the film we find out that Scar tells Simba the location of the Elephant Graveyard, knowing that Simba's curiosity will compel him to visit it, where the hyena's are waiting to kill him.
Assassination? In a Disney film? Hell yeah!
Toy Story is another good example of the thematic quality of Disney films, particularly Toy Story 2. This is a film whose story deals with the idea of mortality, which suddenly confronts main character Woody as Andy's mom prepares for a garage sale. he's accidentally sold to a toy collector, but because of this he is presented with an interesting choice. He can live forever in a museum with other rare toys, adored by thousands of visiting people, so long as he abandons his previous life with Andy. Either that, or Woody can go back home to Andy, living the life of a normal toy until Andy grows up and he is inevitably discarded, doomed to suffer in toy oblivion as he has seen happen to other toys.
It's a choice between eventual death and immortality, and at first the choice is simple. Woody chooses to go to the museum, but after being reminded of his relationship with Andy by Buzz Lightyear, Woody decides that being with Andy, for any amount of time, is preferable to an eternity spent behind glass.
This is heavy stuff, but you'd never know it from the movies because it's all so well integrated into the plot. Most of us here remember the Disney films we saw as kids, and some of us may regard them as good for kids, but that we are beyond that form of entertainment now. Some may even regard animation as a frivolous form of entertainment. Maybe in some cases all of these things are true, then again, almost everything is worth a second look. One may find something they never saw before.