When Disney+ launched, the biggest selling point for the new streaming service was its popular feature film selection. This included the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, the Star Wars film franchise and the acclaimed Disney animation movie catalog. However, the streaming service also has several documentaries that include festival films, critical darling, and fan-favorite releases.

While many of the Disney+ documentaries are about Disney itself, from classic animators and musicians to a series about the Disney theme parks, several other documentaries should make fans of Star Wars and the MCUjump for joy. Here are some of the best documentaries that you don't want to miss on Disney+.

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Howard

In 2018, the documentary Howard screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and received a limited theatrical run over the holidays. With an impressive 92 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Howard is also the latest original feature documentary to hit Disney+ in 2020. Directed by Don Hahn, the producer of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, this documentary tells the history of Howard Ashman.

Ashman wrote the songs used in movies like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. Created with audio interviews and featuring personal photos, Howard is a straight forward and respectful look at the life and death of one of the most influential writers in Disney animation history.

Waking Sleeping Beauty

If Howard looks familiar to Disney+ subscribers, that's because director Don Hahn helmed both films and used a similar technique, mixing in audio interviews with photographs and iconic images. While Howard takes on the story of a fantastic music writer, Waking Sleeping Beauty focuses on the Walt Disney Company, starting with its animation division's struggles in the mid-1980s until its resurgence in the '90s.

The documentary, which initially premiered at the 2009 Telluride Film Festival, shows how Michael Eisner joined Disney as the CEO, hired Jeffrey Katzenberg, and he, in turn, hired Peter Schneider. These men turned Disney around with what is known as the Disney Renaissance. This all started with The Little Mermaid and eventually saw an animated movie nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars with Beauty and the Beast. The best thing about this documentary is that it's honest and isn't afraid to fire arrows at Disney.

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The Imagineering Story

The Imagineering Story is a documentary series created for Disney+ that premiered when the new streaming service launched. Unlike other documentary features about Walt Disney, this six-episode series was about the creation of the Disney theme park and the attractions all over the world. The series was years in the works, initially planned as a feature documentary film in 2013 but getting expanded for Disney+.

The documentary starts with the creation of Disneyland and its sister parks. It discusses the design and construction of the parks and the creation of the actual rides in the amusement parks. The term "Imagineers" refers to the engineers that design the rides, including the visually impressive the Haunted Mansion, which utilizes special effects for guests at the park. Director Leslie Works has another big documentary coming next year in The Pixar Story.

Assembling a Universe

The only thing that holds back this Marvel Studios documentary is its shorter length. However, the good news is that there is a second documentary called Expanding the Universe on Disney+ as well, with the two clocking in at around an hour when combined. These are good documentaries for fans who want to learn more about the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in its early days -- with the first having been released in 2014.

Since the documentary premiered on ABC, it also talked a lot about Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which ended up not having much to do with the movies in the end. However, Expanding the Universe goes a long way in giving subscribers a more substantial look at how the MCU expanded in the five years since the release of Assembling a Universe.

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Empire of Dreams

Unlike the MCU documentary on Disney+, the Star Wars documentary Empire of Dreams is one of the most comprehensive making-of documentaries for any movie franchise. This was the documentary created for the DVD release of the Star Wars Trilogy in 2004 and is a two-and-a-half-hour look at the making of three of the most influential sci-fi movies of all-time.

Director Kevin Burns helmed the documentary, which Robert Clotworthy (The Curse of Oak Island) narrated. There was a shortened version released on A&E Network, but the Disney+ version is the regular extended version, although it does claim that it was "edited for content." The documentary is split into five parts and interviews anyone and everyone involved in the original trilogy.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, people were looking for something to keep them occupied in their homes on television. Disney+ had what fans needed when it released the documentary series Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian in May 2020. In November 2019, when Disney+ debuted, The Mandalorian was an instant hit, creating a Star Wars spin-off that won back some of the fans disappointed by the recent movies.

This Disney+ documentary series is eight episodes that deliver fans a complete look at the entire making-of the first season of The Mandalorian. The chapters touch on the directing, legacy, cast, technology, practical effects, the process, score and connections to the movies and past television efforts. Jon Favreau, the man who ran The Mandalorian, serves as the executive producer of the documentary series.

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Frank and Ollie

Frank and Ollie is another documentary on Disney+ about the faces behind some of the beloved films in the animated movie world. This story goes back many years and tells the story of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of the chief animators for Walt Disney from its early days until they retired in the late '70s. This documentary is also one of the oldest for Disney+, initially released in 1995 during the Disney Renaissance.

What makes this documentary different is that it is not a look back at a career with interviews, but is instead mostly Frank and Ollie sitting and talking about their careers, giving anecdotes and telling stories. There are even moments where one of the men will act out a scene from the movies they animated, which included films like Pinocchio, Fantasia and The Jungle Book.

Free Solo

Free Solo is a documentary added to Disney+ thanks to the fact that it is a National Geographic Documentary Film, which has a section on the streaming service. The film, released theatrically in 2018, follows rock climber Alex Honnold, a man who specializes in free solo climbs, a process that uses no safety equipment, including ropes and harnesses.

The premiere of the film took place at the Telluride Film Festival in 2018 before hitting theaters. It was also hugely successful, winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film and finishing with a worldwide box office gross of $28.6 million. Free Solo also received almost universal acclaim, boasting a 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

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