1. The Lion King

Price: $17.99 at amazon.com
The Lion King is without question the most awesome animal-based movie I have ever seen. It still has the power to make me cry. I could go so far as to say that it's the best Disney movie ever. I mean, Bambi was great but you're not going to see it on here, because Simba kicked Bambi's butt. Besides, Bambi always hit too close to home; I lived in WV, y'all, people hunted like that.

2. Benji

Price: $6.49 at amazon.com
I remember watching Benji and it's sequels (what was the one with the little wildcat cubs? It ripped my heart out!), and crying my eyes out. I mean, I bawled for hours. I kept asking my mom why Benji couldn't have just stayed with the cubs. She didn't even know what to tell me, so I just continued having hysterics. I still won't let myself watch that.

3. Dr. Doolittle

Price: $11.99 at amazon.com
Dr. Dolittle is full of awesome sauce. I don't care if you're talking about the original version with Rex Harrison or Eddie Murphey's version, I love this movie. Okay, I probably should have included the OG, though, because I'm not the hugest fan of hearing Norm MacDonald monotone through a movie and several sequels, but otherwise, this is just an awesome animal-based movie.

4. Best in Show

Price: $5.49 at amazon.com
Okay, I adore Christopher Guest and all his crazy mockumentaries, but this is by far my favorite. For those of you who haven't seen it, it follows the people involved in a dog show. They are all crazy. However, you get to see a lot of cute dogs, and that more than makes up for it. Besides, this is just a really great movie -- especially if you're a dog lover.

5. An American Tail

Price: $10.99 at amazon.com
Here's another movie that just made me cry my eyes out. I mean seriously, the flood was ridiculous and never-ending. I love Feival so much! I still sometimes find myself singing, "Oh there are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese!" I didn't really like Feival Goes West, but this one, with it's heart warming story and heart breaking plot lines, was like a drama for children designed to make sure they never looked at mice the same way again.

6. Finding Nemo

Price: $17.99 at amazon.com
Finding Nemo really is an awesome animal-based movie. I mean, it is just so sweet. I've seen this one too recently (again) to even talk that much about it, because it makes me cry like a baby too. Plus I can't ever see a clown fish and I don't think it's secretly Nemo. What?

7. Free Willy

Price: $4.99 at amazon.com
Now, I could certainly do without all the sequels, but the first Free Willy was really a great movie. It was another tear jerker, for that matter. I remember the craze this caused. Half my friends went wild for Jason James Richter (I didn't; I was and still am more of an Elijah Wood girl, but Flipper was not super great), the other half went nuts for Keiko, the whale -- who was really great!

I hope you enjoyed this list of awesome animal-based movies as well. There are so many good ones out there, it's really hard to pick just a couple. Cartoons, live action, so many of them are so good! What are your favorite movies about and/or starring animals?