Ever since Disney elevated the realism of cartoon characters during the rubber hose era of the 1930s, the studio has used live-action reference as a springboard for the creation of their animation. As talented as those Disney animators were, Snow White could have never danced with the dwarfs, Prince Philip could have never battled a dragon and Chernabog could have never risen from Bald Mountain without live-action footage of performers acting out the scenes beforehand to give the animators a feel for what they wanted. Walt Disney was against the use of rotoscoping at his studio so animators never traced, but he was perfectly fine with receiving inspiration from real life.

With that in mind, one of my favorite scenes in any Disney film is the scene from Alice in Wonderland (1951) when Alice meets the March Hare, the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse while they are having an “unbirthday” party. It almost entirely consists of Alice basically having a long and absurd conversation with them that gets more madcap the longer it goes on. Before you know it the White Rabbit gets involved in the scene, which leads to the Hatter and the Hare trying to fix his watch (which is not broken) and leads to even more madness. The MVPs of that scene were Jerry Colonna and Ed Wynn, the two men who not only voiced the March Hare and the Mad Hatter but also acted out the scene with Alice voice actor Kathryn Beaumont (playing it perfectly straight) as reference for the animators. Watching that reference footage is almost like seeing a vaudeville routine or watching The Ed Sullivan Show. Playing off of each other in person made the back and forth between Colonna’s Hare and Wynn’s Hatter all the funnier, and the animation in the finished film captures that spontaneity well in rapid and witty fashion. I don’t think the combination of actor and animator would reach such comedic heights again until Robin Williams and Eric Goldberg came together to bring the Genie to life in Aladdin.

I’m not going to explain why this scene makes me laugh so hard because nothing kills comedy more than analyzing it. But I will point out that for all the earnestness and emotion that has made Disney such a beloved studio and brand, they have often hired some of the funniest people in the world for their films. While it’s true that Warner Bros. and MGM ran circles around Disney when it came to animated comedy, Disney still struck comedy gold a fair amount. Most often when they created a great character who served as comedy relief like Dopey and Jiminy Cricket or even comedy duos like Timon and Pumbaa.

Being funny may not be what Disney is known for, but just as a small shout-out from someone who appreciates good comedy, here are some of the Disney movies that have made me laugh the hardest:

Cinderella (1950)

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Peter Pan (1953)

The Jungle Book (1967)

The Aristocats (1970)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

Aladdin (1992)

The Lion King (1994)

A Goofy Movie (1995)

Toy Story (1995)

Hercules (1997)

George of the Jungle (1997)

Mulan (1998)

A Bug’s Life (1998)

Toy Story 2 (1999)

The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000)

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Finding Nemo (2003)

Ratatouille (2007)