March Madness is a crazily competitive basketball tournament; however, the competition is not limited to the athletes. Millions of Americans battle it out between family, friends, teammates and co-workers to achieve the best bracket.

This year, basketball fans were not the only people filling them out. Brackets went viral and were created for almost every single category you could think of. Examples include “Best Ariana Grande Song,” “Best Boy Band,” and “Best Ice Cream Flavor.”

The bracket that got the most attention was the Disney-Pixar Bracket. The bracket included 32 movies from both Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Studios. The reason this Disney-themed meme achieved the most popularity is because everyone loves Disney movies, and everyone has strong opinions about them.

Every single person has an opinion over what Disney films are the best and that is what made the Disney bracket so engaging. At the simple mention of the meme, friendly, passionate debates immediately ignited among friends.

Some people went for a critical approach – deciding the best movies based upon each film’s script, plot, production value, and so forth. Others went for a more heartfelt approach – allowing childhood memories of each film to sway their choices.

My favorite interactions with this meme were with my teammates as well as with my fellow Ionian editors. A few days after the bracket went viral, the Iona swim coach posted the bracket to the official swimming Instagram. Immediately, the entire team was flooding the comment section with opinions. It was truly hilarious.

Most recently, The Ionian News Editor Abigail Rapillo, Features Editor Julia O’Regan and I were working at the club fair during Accepted Students Day, and we each filled out the bracket during our free time. I had completed my bracket first and my opinions shocked my peers so much that they immediately filled out their own. We were passionately debating which movies were better and it was exhilarating!

I’ll share a few of my opinions; however, it must be realized that this bracket was difficult! In basketball terms, they pitted top seed movies against each other straight away. “Aladdin” vs. “Hercules?” “The Incredibles” vs. “Wall-E?” I would not even wish making those decisions on my worst enemy!

My final four movies were “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Toy Story 3” and “Monsters Inc.” “The Lion King” is just an amazing movie from start to finish. Its plot is executed perfectly, the characters are fun and the songs are fantastic. It is objectively one of Disney’s best movies.

“The Little Mermaid” holds a special place in my heart because it was my favorite growing up. I was obsessed with Ariel! The movie offers the best princess anthem via “Part of Your World” as well as Disney’s best villain, Ursula. An interesting villain is always a plus and Ursula brings both sass and the horror.

“Toy Story 3” brought me to tears, which says a lot! Finally, “Monsters Inc.” is so unique, funny and heartfelt that I cannot even process denying it a spot in the finals. My championship round was “Monsters Inc” vs. “The Little Mermaid” and Ariel came out on top. It was a hard choice but, in the end, nostalgia took the cake. As someone who still belts “Part of Your World” at karaoke, it was hard to deny that “Mermaid” was my absolute favorite.

It was very hard to complete, but the Disney-Pixar Bracket was enjoyable because of the stimulating discussion it started. If you would like to try it with your friends or family, go to DisneyBracket.com.

To contact The Ionian’s Brian Connors, email him at [email protected].