This past weekend, I watched a movie called The Adventures of Prince Achmed. It's a German animated movie from 1926 and is widely considered to be the first feature length animated feature. Wikipedia defines Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as the "first full-length traditionally animated feature film", as hand-drawn animation is different than stop motion animation. While Disney was probably the most influential force in popularizing animation in the 30s, you can't tell me that Prince Achmed is not as beautiful and impactful, even without spoken words or traditionally animated characters. The movie's original story comes from the Arabian Nights tales, which Disney used as an inspiration for Aladdin decades later.
It's difficult for Disney fans to conceive that other studios and filmmakers shaped animation in equally revolutionary ways. While Disney is the crown jewel of the animation industry today, there is so much animation history that Disney fans would benefit from learning.