After 20 Years, These 7 Disney Animated Classics Are Still Missing From Disney+ — Ranked By The Wait

Disney+ just pulled a blast-from-the-past move and brought back The Weekenders, which has basically been MIA since the early 2000s. That alone is nice. The better news: Disney is teasing that more of its 90s and 2000s animated catalog is finally headed for the service. Remember, when Disney+ launched, the pitch was 'the vault is open' - especially for old TV shows that never got proper DVD sets. It took a minute, but if The Weekenders is the start, here are the missing shows that should be next.

• Brandy & Mr. Whiskers (2004-2006)

  Created by Russell Marcus, this is the odd-couple cartoon where a high-society dog (Brandy) and a chaotic rabbit (Mr. Whiskers) get stranded in the Amazon. It ran 39 episodes, which is plenty of jungle nonsense, and the whole point is watching them slowly accept that this is their life now. A few episodes float around on YouTube, but it is nowhere near a proper, complete release. Perfect candidate for a tidy Disney+ drop.

• The Buzz on Maggie (2005-2006)

  Dave Polsky made this one, and it quietly broke tech ground as Disney Channel’s first fully Adobe Flash- produced series. Because it aired pre-HD, it even went through some cropping gymnastics back then, which gives it a weird little time-capsule vibe now. The story is simple: Maggie is a teenage fly who wants to be a rock star and will bulldoze whatever is in her way to get there. Maggie has popped up in a few Disney crossovers since, but the original series still has not hit streaming in full. It should.

• Dave the Barbarian (2004-2005)

  Doug Langdale’s single-season wonder got buried fast, which is a shame. It is a medieval goofball comedy where Dave is supposed to protect the kingdom with his sisters, except he is... not exactly the sharpest sword in the armory. A snarky narrator constantly breaks the fourth wall, and the show dunks on fantasy tropes every other line. It felt a little ahead of its time. Now that meta-fantasy is everywhere, a proper streaming run could finally give it the audience it deserved.

• Lloyd in Space ( 2001-2004)

  From the Recess duo Joe Ansolabehere and Paul Germain, Lloyd got four seasons, but half of the back end finished on Toon Disney, which did the show zero favors in terms of visibility. Lloyd Nebulon is a dorky alien at a school filled with every species in the galaxy. It is an easy, funny sci-fi spin on the age-old story of a kid who wants to be cooler than he is. That premise still plays. Put it on Disney+ and let it find a new crowd.

• Fillmore! (2002-2004)

  Scott M. Gimple’s schoolyard crime saga is already on Disney+ in Canada and some other countries, which makes its absence in the U.S. extra annoying. The show ended an era of Disney Saturday morning animation on ABC and has had a second life online thanks to clips that still hit.

  "That chicken was dry. Real dry."

  It is a deadpan cop show riff where Safety Patrol legend Fillmore cleans up the halls, and it absolutely holds up. Just flip the switch in the U.S., please.

• House of Mouse (2001-2003)

  This one is probably tangled up in rights hell, but it is too good to leave in a drawer. House of Mouse is basically a hangout show for Disney’s animated characters inside Mickey’s nightclub, built around a mix of shorts - including material carried over from the Mickey Mouse Works era. The format is more like a curated variety block than a standard season of episodes, which does not map perfectly to on-demand streaming. Still, there has to be a way. It is a pure shot of Disney history all in one place.

• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-2001)

  The big one. This ran for 60-plus episodes and somehow still is not on Disney+ a quarter century later. Patrick Warburton (yep, Joe from Family Guy) voices Buzz in a series that shows him early in his Star Command career. It is the prequel idea that Pixar ’s Lightyear tried to reframe, except this version is the full, pulpy space-adventure show people actually wanted. Great supporting cast, lots of action, and a tone that is very Saturday morning in the best way. Keeping this off the service at this point is just baffling.

Bottom line: The Weekenders coming back is a solid start, and Disney+ hinting at more 90s-2000s animation is exactly what a lot of us have been waiting for. These are the ones that should be next in line. If Disney really wants to make good on that 'open the vault' promise, this is the moment.