10 Best Miniseries Streaming On Disney Plus, Ranked

Disney+ has only been around as a streaming service since late 2019, but it's already amassed an impressive library of movies and television shows spanning a wide range of genres and audiences. Though some of the best TV shows streaming on Disney+ right now include long-running sitcoms, animated gems, and series with the budgets of blockbuster movies, there are also plenty of miniseries that, despite only being a few episodes long, tell the most powerful stories you'll find on the platform. 

That being said, the advantage many of these miniseries have is that they build on characters and worlds from other Disney properties. Whether they're Marvel Cinematic Universe or "Star Wars" characters getting deeper character studies, or beloved animated characters starring in their own series of shorts, these miniseries defy expectations to deliver some of the best narrative storytelling the company has ever produced. 

In addition, the streaming service's collection of miniseries also includes short docuseries taking fans behind the scenes of some of the most iconic figures in the entertainment industry. Though not all the Disney+ miniseries mentioned in this list will appeal to every type of fan or scratch every itch you have in looking for the next series to binge-watch, we can guarantee they have made for some of the most surprising and engaging television programs in recent memory. 

Of all the spin-offs Disney and Pixar could've made from the "Inside Out" franchise, "Dream Productions" is certainly the most inventive. The four-episode animated series takes the form of a documentary, going behind the scenes with two creatives at the production company behind Riley's dreams. Like any entertainment documentary, their white whale is trying to create Riley's next big dream without it turning into a nightmare. 

Though it also features "Inside Out" veterans like Amy Poehler's Joy and Phyllis Smith's Sadness in supporting roles, the show mainly focuses on Paula (Paula Pell), the overenthusiastic director of Riley's dreams, and her new assistant director Xeni (Richard Ayoade), the pretentious nephew of Dream Productions' head, Jean (Maya Rudolph). Their collaboration, as tenuous and fraught as it is, feels like a tribute to the great Hollywood partnerships, making this the perfect show for those who like to dig a little deeper than most Pixar films do, metatextually. 

While Disney+ shows have caused problems for Marvel, "Star Wars," and Pixar, "Dream Productions" is not only an incredibly creative extension of the "Inside Out" universe but also the perfect amuse-bouche to its continuation in "Inside Out 2." As if that's not enough reason to check it out, the miniseries also has something incredibly profound to say about how our dreams are as integral to our coming-of-age as reality. 

"Star Wars" has, if anything, gone really overboard with its Disney+ output, between three seasons of "The Mandalorian," two seasons of "Andor," and several other spin-offs, including "Ahsoka" and "The Acolyte." In all the overabundance of content, you may have missed the release of a frankly underrated entry in the recent "Star Wars" catalog: "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew," which debuted on Disney+ in 2024. 

The series follows a group of four children who become the proteges of the Force-sensitive pirate Jod Na Nawood, played by Jude Law, after discovering an abandoned spaceship on their home planet of At Attin. Since the characters are much younger than "Star Wars" protagonists tend to be in most cases, "Skeleton Crew" plays out like an intergalactic coming-of-age story, in which these young hopeful adventurers learn who to trust and who not to trust in an increasingly unstable galaxy. 

Until a potential Season 2 of "Skeleton Crew" comes to fruition, the series remains a worthwhile miniseries among the many "Star Wars" shows that try to incorporate existing lore into a more palatable television continuity. With this show, you'll easily fall in love with its characters without needing to understand decades-long lore from old animated series or novels. 

The 2022 miniseries "Baymax!" is, believe it or not, not the first television series spinning off from Disney's 2014 hit film "Big Hero 6." "Big Hero 6: The Series," like other Disney+ superhero shows, continued where the movie left off by following the team dynamics of the titular group, whereas "Baymax!" adopts the visual style of the film for a more grounded, comedic series following Baymax's day-to-day life helping people in San Fransokyo. 

While "Baymax!" brings back "Big Hero 6" cast members like Ryan Potter and Maya Rudolph as Hiro Hamada and his aunt Cass, it's Baymax's voice actor, Scott Adsit, who gets the most to work with here, as Baymax's stoic helpfulness drives every episode's comedy. Each episode follows a different member of the community, culminating in a finale in which Baymax is the one who requires saving. 

Though "Baymax!" is not as action-packed as "Big Hero 6" or its animated series follow-up, those who enjoyed the titular robot nurse in either project get spoiled with adorable, entertaining moments across these six episodes. Even though there are sadly no plans for the miniseries to continue, it's a reminder that the world of this franchise could inspire dozens of series that make Baymax running Cass's cafe just as interesting as fighting supervillains. 

Kamala Khan was only introduced in Marvel Comics in the 2010s, so the fact that she received her own Disney+ series, "Ms. Marvel," in 2022 speaks to just how popular a character she's become in such a short amount of time. Part of that is likely due to her status as a superhero superfan, becoming a surrogate for all Marvel fans as a superpowered individual who gets the opportunity to share the battlefield with her heroes. But before that can happen, Kamala needs a worthy origin story.

"Ms. Marvel" stars Iman Vellani as Kamala, an enthusiastic teenage fan of the Avengers who struggles to balance her superhero aspirations with her family's traditional Pakistani values. After discovering a mysterious bangle in a box of family heirlooms, Kamala becomes capable of utilizing cosmic energy, making her a target of the Department of Damage Control, as well as a group of exiled djinn known as Clandestines who have ties to Kamala's family history.

Most notably, "Ms. Marvel" is as much a superhero coming-of-age as it is a story about a young girl reckoning with her complicated family history, tying Kamala's origins into the real-life history of the partition of India. Though fans of "Ms. Marvel" will have a fun time with "The Marvels," the film where Kamala finally gets to meet Brie Larson's Carol Danvers, the more grounded, visually snappy miniseries makes for one of the most entertaining and deeply emotional Marvel shows on Disney+. 

Though Ewan McGregor claims a Season 2 of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" is being explored, it's hard to imagine a more perfect send-off for his portrayal than the miniseries we have, which premiered on Disney+ in 2022. The character's life between McGregor's self-exile at the end of "Revenge of the Sith" and Alec Guinness' portrayal of the role in "A New Hope" had been the subject of Expanded Universe stories for years, but "Obi-Wan Kenobi" still feels like a surprising adventure for the Jedi.

Across the series' six episodes, McGregor's Kenobi is forced to abandon his post as guardian of young Luke Skywalker to rescue Princess Leia Organa (played by a supremely charismatic Vivien Lyra Blair) from kidnappers working with the Empire's Inquisitors, namely the vengeful Third Sister (Moses Ingram), who hopes to prove herself to Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen). Not only is it a fun buddy adventure with Kenobi and a young Leia, but it reckons with the tragedy that is Kenobi's failed mentorship of Anakin Skywalker in the prequels.

Culminating in a finale that's both emotional and epic, with a Kenobi vs. Vader duel that makes their fight on Mustafar in "Episode III" look tame by comparison, "Obi-Wan Kenobi" is one of the few "Star Wars" miniseries on Disney+ that feels like a worthwhile use of nostalgia-bait. It's nothing short of a miracle it's as good as it is, given the divided opinions to this day on the prequels. 

"Win or Lose" had the privilege of being Pixar Animation Studios' first foray into telling an original story through television, rather than spinning off of a pre-existing world like "Monsters, Inc." or "Inside Out." What resulted is maybe one of the more fascinating narratives the studio has ever produced, exploring a middle school softball team's climactic championship game from the points of view of different players, their coach, and their parents. 

In a "Rashomon"-style retelling of the same events, "Win or Lose" focuses each episode on a different character, whose personal inner anxieties all manifest in different visual forms, whether that's right fielder Laurie's deprecating imaginary friend, coach Dan's body dysmorphic transformations, or catcher Rochelle's gravity-defying levitations. The cast is also stacked with recognizable voice talent, including Will Forte, Rhea Seehorn, Rosa Salazar, and Lil Rel Howery. 

Though the series has garnered criticism after Disney pulled a transgender storyline, it's nevertheless a heartwarming and wildly entertaining exploration of existential fears not unlike Pixar films like "Inside Out" or "Soul." If anything, there's so much possibility for this miniseries to spin off into an anthology exploring different sports each season, but it's probably best that Pixar stray from doing more sequels than they're already doing. 

As an original member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers, Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton was long overdue for a solo outing. However, the Disney+ miniseries "Hawkeye" doesn't just follow Clint facing the repercussions of his actions as Ronin during the events of "Avengers: Endgame," but also his newfound mentorship of reckless amateur archer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), who gets herself involved in Clint's business and learns her family is much more connected to his past than she thought. 

The dynamic between Steinfeld and Renner is among the series' many highlights, providing a much more consistent emotional throughline to the story than other MCU Disney+ series. Its Christmas setting also makes it an oddly cozy watch, especially for a series focused on street-level crime involving figures like Kingpin (with Vincent D'Onofrio reprising his role from the Netflix "Daredevil" series), Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, and Tony Dalton's Swordsman. 

Since Jeremy Renner was offered half his paycheck to return for a "Hawkeye" Season 2, it's unlikely we'll get a proper follow-up to the miniseries outside of any future Avengers team-ups. It's a shame, because for as little love as Hawkeye often gets, "Hawkeye" made for one of the best MCU Disney+ series. Let's just hope that the final scene of "The Marvels" isn't the last time we get to see Steinfeld's Kate Bishop. 

Few pop stars are as talented at world-building as Taylor Swift, so it's no surprise that a docuseries like "Taylor Swift: The End of an Era" is an insightful peek behind the curtain of her groundbreaking Eras Tour. Among the biggest takeaways from "The End of an Era" is Swift's dedication to making sure the show goes on, even as she and her team deal with tragedies both personal and global, as well as the extreme ambition that makes even the most talented professionals in the touring business look like magicians.

Though many casual fans of Swift will simply be dazzled by getting to hear from the source how the Eras Tour led to meeting her future husband, Travis Kelce, the more devoted fans will cherish seeing the creative process behind her 2025 album "The Life of a Showgirl" between tour stops, as well as watching her brilliantly mash up her own songs backstage to surprise audiences with something new every single show. Even if you don't care for Swift's music, you can't deny the incredible talent, drive, and hard work on display throughout this docuseries.

More so than seeing Swift's story, "The End of an Era" also examines the stories of several key members of her production team. Not only will you fall in love with Swift's work ethic, but the stories from her backup dancers, band members, family, and collaborators might be the ones to actually get you to shed a tear. 

If there was any confidence in the MCU's experiment to bring its characters from the big screen to Disney+, it all came from the whirlwind success of "WandaVision." In 2021, the first MCU Disney+ series took a deep dive into Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff, whose grief following Vision's death in "Avengers: Infinity War" drives her to create a false reality in a small town in New Jersey styled after different eras of sitcoms. Unknowingly, Wanda is also imprisoning the town's population in her sitcom-esque fantasy, drawing the attention of both government forces and other powerful magic-users. 

Not only is "WandaVision" an ambitious, refreshing break from the MCU norm, but its parodies of sitcoms like "I Love Lucy," "The Twilight Zone," and "Malcolm in the Middle" are incredibly well-done, from the performances to even the music. These bite-sized ventures into sitcom pastiches are more compelling than any CGI-filled action sequence could be, with some of the best moments of the "WandaVision" finale being the quieter, contemplative moments. 

Though Wanda surely had her fans before "WandaVision," the Disney+ series turned her from a supporting character to a fan favorite of the entire film franchise. It's only a shame that so much of the goodwill from this series was spent in just one subsequent film, as even the Disney+ follow-up "Agatha All Along" doesn't match the way this one had everyone in quarantine rapt. 

We take for granted the overabundance of documentation we have surrounding The Beatles, especially when you consider how truly brief their time together was compared to most modern musical acts. As further proof of this, one of the empirically best time capsules of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr is Peter Jackson's 2021 docuseries "The Beatles: Get Back," chronicling the rehearsals and studio sessions in 1969 that led to their final album, "Let It Be," a year later.

Directed by Peter Jackson, the three-part documentary is composed mostly of then-unseen footage from Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 1970 documentary. With Jackson's audio restoration and visual enhancement of the four Liverpudlians playing together, longtime fans of the band were treated to footage of McCartney seemingly composing the hit song "Get Back" on the spot in the first episode, as well as Starr presenting "Octopus's Garden" to the skeptical band members at Apple Studios.

The entire docuseries culminates in an impromptu concert on the rooftop of Apple Studios, which would go on to be the band's final live performance together before splitting up. Ultimately, what makes this the best miniseries on Disney+ is the fact that it makes you, the audience member, feel as if you're a fly on the wall for some of the most prolific and influential musicians in history, watching their dynamic, creative process, and most of all, their friendship.