Hercules movie night with Greek dinner ideas including baklava, chicken kabobs, salad skewers, and Hades-inspired cocktails, styled in front of a big screen TV.

The Disney Movies That Didn’t Fit the First Time: Once Upon a Dinner and a Movie

The Magical Dinner and a Movie will always be my baby. It has every banger. Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, Moana — the Disney canon in its most iconic form. It is still my best-selling cookbook and I do not see that changing anytime soon.

But when I finished it, there was a list of movies sitting in my notes that did not make the cut. Not because they were lesser. Because the book was already full and I had to stop somewhere.

Oliver and Company was on that list. A Goofy Movie was on that list. And those two specifically would not leave me alone.

I went off and made Just Keep Cooking, my Pixar cookbook. Then I made A Magical Christmas Dinner and a Movie. And the whole time, in the back of my mind, Oliver and Dodger were still living on the streets of New York City waiting for their dinner and a movie night. Max was still trying to get to the Powerline concert. I owed them.

Once Upon a Dinner and a Movie is the book I came back to make. The deeper Disney cuts. The ones that did not fit the first time but deserved their own table setting. Thirteen movie nights built around the Disney films that shaped my childhood in ways I did not fully appreciate until I was an adult rewatching them with very different eyes.

Complete Jungle Book themed dinner setup with the menu, desserts, naan, bacon-wrapped asparagus, drinks, and bowls of butter chicken, with Baloo and Mowgli on the TV in the background.

There is something specific that happens when you rewatch A Goofy Movie as a grown-up. As a kid I was completely on Max’s side. Let the kid live. Stop embarrassing him. The music slaps and Powerline is iconic and why is his dad so much. And then you watch it again at thirty-something and you just feel for Goofy so deeply it is almost hard to sit with. A dad trying so hard to connect with a son who is mortified by him. Disney did that. They hid that in a movie about a road trip and a fish and a concert, and it wrecked me.

That is the chapter I started with when I was developing this cookbook. Not because it was the easiest. Because I had to get it right.

A mimosa with frozen cranberry juice letters spelling “Hi Dad,” floating in a glass of orange juice and champagne, inspired by A Goofy Movie.

There is also a Peter Pan connection in this cookbook that is very personal to me. For years I ran a mouse ear shop called Moonlight Lagoon Co., named after the Mermaid Lagoon from Peter Pan. I made handmade ears, and the mermaid ears were the ones I was most proud of. The shop wound down in 2023, but that name, that lagoon, that movie — it is woven into how I think about my own creative identity. Getting to build a full dinner around Peter Pan in this cookbook felt like a proper tribute to something I loved and eventually had to let go.

Handmade Tangled-inspired Mickey ears with sequins, lace, and a jeweled Rapunzel crown, perfect for Disney dinners and Tangled dinner and a movie nights

This is the cookbook for the Disney fans who know every word to “I2I” and have strong feelings about whether the Oliver and Company is underrated. It is for people who grew up with these movies playing in the background of their childhood and only now realize how much those stories actually said.

Ready to cook your way through the deeper Disney cuts? Grab Once Upon a Dinner and a Movie here.

What Is Inside Once Upon a Dinner and a Movie

Thirteen complete Disney dinner and movie nights, each one built from the ground up around the film that inspired it. Every chapter includes a signature cocktail, a mocktail, an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. Every chapter also comes with a beautifully designed printable menu so your table looks as considered as the food tastes.

These are not the obvious picks. This is the Disney catalog for people who grew up knowing there was more to the story than the headline films. Here is every movie night inside the cookbook:

Cinderella — The Glass Slipper cocktail is one of the most elegant drinks in the entire cookbook. This chapter leans into the ballgown-and-candlelight energy of the film, and it is a stunning dinner party menu. Read the full Cinderella dinner post.

Encanto — Colombian flavors, bold colors, and a menu built around the warmth and chaos of the Madrigal family table. This chapter is one of the most culturally specific in the whole book and I love it for that. Read the full Encanto dinner post.

Encanto dinner and a movie table with Mirabel scene playing on TV.

Peter Pan — Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust Drink, Tick Tock the Crock-uterie, The Jolly Roger Garlic Cheese Bread, Off to Neverland Pizza, and Lost Boy Cupcakes for dessert. This chapter is personal to me in ways I have already told you about. Getting to cook it felt like coming full circle. Read the full Peter Pan dinner post.

Lilo and Stitch — Hawaiian-inspired flavors and the most warm-hearted menu in the whole cookbook. Ohana means family and this dinner means it. Read the full Lilo and Stitch dinner post.

Hercules — I Won’t Say I’m in Love Drink, Salad Skewers of the Gods, Meg’s Mythical Garlic Feta Pitas, Mount Olympus Chicken Kabobs over Zeus’ Bolt Basmati Rice, and Olympian Delight Baklava for dessert. Bold Mediterranean flavors and a menu that fully commits to the Greek mythology energy of the film. Read the full Hercules dinner post.

Hercules themed dinner party with Greek menu—chicken kabobs, pita, baklava—served in front of a TV scene with Hercules and Phil.

The Jungle Book — Wild flavors and a menu that feels as adventurous as Mowgli’s whole situation. This chapter is great for families and for anyone who has been humming “Bare Necessities” since 1994. Read the full Jungle Book dinner post.

A Goofy Movie — Hi Dad Mimosa, Leaning Tower of Cheezah (tater tots, obviously), Max’s Bacon and Eggs, and Goofy’s Short Stack for dessert. Breakfast for dinner. The Powerline concert. A road trip movie that turns out to be about a father who loves his son so much it hurts. I started with this chapter for a reason. Read the full A Goofy Movie dinner post.

Robin Hood — Sherwood Forest Serenity cocktail, Ch-ARROW-Cuterie Skewers, Friar Tuck’s Roasted Chicken with Robin Hood’s Roasted Potatoes and Maid Marian’s Roasted Carrots, and Bullseye Cupcakes for dessert. Rustic, hearty, and genuinely one of the coziest menus in the book. (Full dinner post coming soon.)

Oliver and Company — Georgette’s Paw-sta Salad, Dodger’s Street Dogs, Tito’s Tots, and New York Cheesecake. New York City energy from start to finish. This was one of the two movies that made me come back and make this cookbook, and the menu captures exactly why I love this film so much. (Full dinner post coming soon.)

101 Dalmatians — (Full dinner post coming soon.)

Pocahontas — (Full dinner post coming soon.)

Alice in Wonderland — (Full dinner post coming soon.)

Mary Poppins — (Full dinner post coming soon.)

What Makes This Cookbook Different

The Magical Dinner and a Movie had the bangers. This one has the deep cuts. And I would argue the deep cuts are where you find out who someone really is as a Disney fan.

Anyone can love Beauty and the Beast. But if you have a take on whether Oliver and Company is criminally underrated, if you watched A Goofy Movie on repeat as a kid and only understood it when you were an adult, if Peter Pan meant enough to you that you named something after it — this cookbook was made for you.

The other thing that makes this book different is the range of culinary territory it covers. The Hercules chapter is genuinely Greek-inspired. The Encanto chapter is built around Colombian flavors. The Lilo and Stitch chapter pulls from Hawaiian food traditions. The Oliver and Company chapter captures New York City from the appetizer to the cheesecake. I care about the food actually reflecting the world of the film, not just being named after it.

Every chapter also comes with a printable menu that you can customize before you print. This was something I introduced in The Magical Dinner and a Movie and it has become one of the most commented-on features across all my cookbooks. Handing someone a menu at a dinner table changes the energy of the whole night. It tells them this is an event, not just dinner.

Peter Pan family dinner night table with themed menu, green drinks, pineapple stars, Lost Boys cupcakes, map pizza, salad, and pirate ship bread

Get the Cookbook

Once Upon a Dinner and a Movie is a digital download, $25, available instantly. Thirteen complete Disney dinner and movie nights with full menus, cocktails, mocktails, desserts, and printable table menus included.

If you want everything at once, the Epic Bundle has all ten of my cookbooks in one download. Over 100 movie nights, every Disney classic and deep cut, Pixar, Marvel, Halloween, Christmas, and the flashback blockbusters that defined a generation.

Grab Once Upon a Dinner and a Movie — $25

Get the Epic Bundle (All 10 Cookbooks) — $149

The Epic Bundle

All ten Fairy Tale Foodie cookbooks in one instant download: The Magical Dinner and a Movie, Once Upon a Dinner and a Movie, Just Keep Cooking, Try Everything on the Menu, Eat Like a Hero, The Spooky Dinner and a Movie, Bloody Good Dinners, A Magical Christmas Dinner and a Movie, Rewind and Dine, and Epic Eats.

Over 100 movie nights. Disney classics, Disney deep cuts, Pixar, Marvel, Halloween family-friendly, Halloween scary, Christmas, and the flashback blockbusters that defined an era. One bundle, endless Saturday nights.