Well, going down the list in Disney’s Animated Classics:
Missing Parents
Snow White
Dumbo (where’s his father? - although it’s not an issue in the film. In any event, his mother is taken away during the film.)
Bambi
Cinderella
Peter Pan (from Peter’s perspective)
The Jungle Book (Mowgli may have had parents, but, if so, he was obviously seperated from them for years)
The Rescuers
The Black Cauldron (the main character’s parents aren’t mentioned, but he’s living with a mentor, so let’s put him here).
Oliver and Company (Oliver is alone and separated from his parents and family).
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King (I’ll put Simba here since Mufasa dies halfway through the movie)
Mulan (she’s missing a parent, right? It’s been a while since I saw this movie)
Tarzan
Lilo and Stitch
Intact Families
Sleeping Beauty
101 Dalmatians (from the puppies’ perspective)
Herclues (even though he’s separated from his divine parents, he does grow up with two perfectly good human parents).
Family not relevant
Pinocchio (unless you count Gepatto, in which case he’s in an intact family)
Fantasia
Saludos Amigos
The Three Caballeros
Make Mine Music
Fun and Fancy Free
Melody Time
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Alice in Wonderland (she has an older sister, but her parents are not relevant to the story. Indeed, we don’t know if she has them or not).
Lady and the Tramp
The Sword in the Stone
The Aristocats
Robin Hood
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (who knows if C.R. has parents – it doesn’t matter for the story)
The Fox and the Hound
Fantasia 2000
The Emporer’s New Groove
Atlantis
Not sure about (because I haven’t seen the movie)
Great Mouse Detective
The Rescuers Down Under
Pocahantas
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Treasure Planet.
So, based on my highly unscientific method, there were 16 films where there was a missing parent (or parents), 3 films where the main characters had a fairly intact family and 18 where the family life didn’t make a difference in the story.
Note: This list only includes those films that are on the Disney’s Animated Classics list. It does not include Live Action movies (The Absent Minded Professor, Parent Trap, etc.), Pixar releases (Monsters Inc, Toy Story, etc.) or mixed animated/live action movies (Mary Poppins. Pete’s Dragon, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, etc.)
Zev Steinhardt