Opinions on the Disney Animated Classic sequels?

[Widdi]

When I was younger I liked them, but watching them now (with one exception) I really feel a hatred for them. Especially when original voice actors cannot or do not reprise their role.

The only one I still enjoy is Beauty and the Beast: the Enchanted Christmas. I watch it every Christmas eve on VHS (I have had no luck in locating a DVD copy anywhere off the net and I don't buy movies online).

The Rescuers Down Under is another sequel I enjoy though I don't lump it with the DTV releases.

[Escapay]

How about the worse and best grammar?

How about the worse and best unnacarcey posts? .

*Resisting the urge to sing a timeless Alanis Morissette song*

And isn't it ironic...don't you think...a little too ironic...

Scaps

[toonaspie]

I find it really sad that Disney did not care for quality in their DTV sequels until a year or two ago and now theyre going to close real soon. I just find it sad because the past DTV sequels couldve been better than they were if they had been made later. The Lion King 2 wouldve had better coloring (so many characters off-color) and of course HoND 2 would not have looked like the cheap tv show it turned out to be and other minor details wouldve been considered. They spent so much detail and stuff on Bambi 2 and got one of Disney's top animators to direct it. Why didnt they think of this for other DTVs??

Really sad.

[kurtadisneyite]

The most time consuming and expensive part of animation remains the drawing and animating of the characters. Second would be the creation of 3D worlds and backgrounds.

It takes about the same amount of time for a hack to do a background as it does a skilled artist. Ditto voice-work, music, and compositing (unless a lot of effects and 3D are involved). Not so 3D or character animation - the more detail and care put into it, the longer it takes and the more it costs.

One thing clearly visible in most Disney sequels is less animation. Characters on 3's and 4's take half the time to draw compared of 2's and 1's. Limited animation further cuts production time. 3D models with simple texture maps and low detail count build and render faster.

Adults can see these differences. Do kids see them? Do they care?

[slave2moonlight]

I think the secret to being able to enjoy the sequels that are enjoyable, or being able to enjoy the better aspects of the others, is accepting them as merchandising rather than "Disney Animated Features." We know they weren't made for theaters after all. What did tick me off was when they would make weak sequels and release them to theaters, making them more than just merchandise, like Jungle Book 2. That movie has its moments, but it has sooo many flaws. It was not bigscreen quality. I just hate it when people are against sequels in general. I mean, to me, Rescuers Down Under was MUCH better than the original.

[ichabod]

How about the worse and best unnacarcey posts? .

In the fathoms of uncertainty through which we must stride as we experience life, there is at least one thing of which I can be wholly certain. None of my posts have ever been unnacarcey.

[pap64]

Speaking of sequels/midquels and such, right now I am watching Beauty and the beast: The enchanted Christmas. Did anyone find it weird how Belle is very happy about Christmas? I mean, she is spending Christmas as a prisoner in a castle guarded by a giant beast while her father is alone at home, wondering how her daughter is doing.

I would be depressed if I found myself in a situation like that. Princesses must have charismatic optimism I guess XD .

[slave2moonlight]

Princesses must have charismatic optimism I guess XD .

I suppose that's more appealing than being depressed. I also imagine she was looking for anything to be happy about.

[Disney-Fan]

In the fathoms of uncertainty through which we must stride as we experience life, there is at least one thing of which I can be wholly certain. None of my posts have ever been unnacarcey.

You seriously just cracked me up. I nominate this post of the year!

[Ray Pointer]

It goes without saying that the sequels are pointless. They obviously are made to "cannibalize" the originals, and do nothing but devalue them as they capitalize on the reputaion of the established. Their very reason for being is clearly a "wish fullfillment" from a merchant's POV. "If it was a success once before, copying it will duplicate that success." This sort of thinking was present during the height of Disney's success, and all of the attempts to "copy" Disney proved disasterous. It is unfortunate that those at the helm at Disney paid no attention to this aspect of history and failed to recognize the value of what had already been done well in Disney's past, not realizing that the duplication of such classics and their success is a much or complicated process than simply "doing it for its own sake."

[Kossage]

Before I say anything else, I'd just like to point out that when I'm going to talk about sequels in this thread, I won't be referring to The Rescuers Down Under, because that film is in a league of its own when compared to the rest of the sequels. So, here we go:

Anyone else find the sequels that Disney has now made standard completely pointless and ridiculous?

Well, I guess one could say they're pointless, but some of the sequels haven't been that bad (Cinderella 3, and The Lion King 2 come to mind, and I'd like to think Bambi 2 is among them, although I've yet to see that film) and thus haven't been that ridiculous, although I've seen many that would fit into the category you described above.

First, there's the animation. We all know the TV-Animation department is the one who animates them, but it's almost like a slap in the face to the original beautiful animation contained in the originals.

Yes, the quality of the animation is often lacking in the sequels. However, I think Andreas Deja was the head animator of Bambi in the sequel, and from what I've seen of it in the trailers, he seemed to do an alright job as far as I could see.

Second, it destroys some of the magic created by the originals. Bambi 2? Really? Are you serious? Watching the special features on the original, and finding out about the backgrounds, and all the work that went into them, and then seeing some bastardized version for a straight-to-dvd sequel is a bit insulting to the original. How long before we have a Snow White 2?

How exactly are they destroying the magic created by the originals? Although I saw The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2, after seeing that I didn't think that the original had suddenly become worse in my eyes. It's like saying that after watching The Phantom Menace I thought The Empire Strikes Back sucked, which just doesn't make any sense.

There's a piece of advice for this kind of situation: ignore the sequel. I watched HOND2 and after that I've simply ignored its existence, and the original is still among the great DACs and hasn't become worse even though it has a sequel which wasn't as good as it was.

However, there's one thing I like with DisneyToon Studios or whatever: Mickey's The Three Musketeers. I had waited to see the trio of Mickey, Donald and Goofy in action, and I felt the DTV format was suitable for their adventures. I know discussion about that particular film doesn't belong to the discussion about DTV sequels, but I just felt that making these kind of "original" movies would've been better than making all those sequels.

Even if the sequels lacked quite a bit of the Disney magic we came to expect (although there were enjoyable ones like Cinderella 3 and TLK2 to mention a few), I've noticed that most of the sequels actually had surprisingly good scores.

Even when the songs weren't up to par, the scores themselves often were. A particularly good example of this is Joel McNeely's work in films like Return to Neverland, Mulan 2 and Cinderella 3: the scores of those films were full of thematic development and adaptation of themes from the original films and yet enough original material to satisfy the sequel's needs, great orchestration, and most of all a lot of emotion and enthusiasm behind it.

You just need to listen to the track "Main Title" from Return to Neverland score to realize how wonderfully McNeely summarized the whole story of the original Peter Pan within two minutes of music by referring to existing themes for various characters and locales of that first film and also introduced one of his major themes for the sequel in a clever way at the end of that track. That kind of sophistication and use of leitmotifs is what puts many of McNeely's scores up there with the scores of the actual Disney Animated Classics, and the scores are often the saving grace of the less-than-good sequels.

[TheValentineBros]

I liked Peter Pan 2, 101 Dalmatians 2 & Jungle Book 2. I've never seen Lady & the Tramp 2, but that's my opinion. Opinions are opinions. So, that's my opinion, and don't forget to watch these sequels.

[kurtadisneyite]

Getting back on topic, I think Fantasia 2000 and The Rescuers Down Under are the best theatrically released sequels. My picks for best direct to video sequel would be Cinderella III, Lilo and Stitch II, and Bambi II.

My picks for the worst sequels would be Cinderella II and Belle's Magical World.

Ditto.

Ironic, though, that the same studio that did Belle's Magical World is responsible for the Princess Enchanted Tales series.

[Jack Skellington]

Can we expect an Alice in Wonderland sequal in the future, now that Disney is making good sequals ? I really like Cinderella 3 and Lillo & Stitch 2, also a sequel to Snow White,Sleeping beauty, and the Black cauldron might be intresting !

[slave2moonlight]

Can we expect an Alice in Wonderland sequal in the future, now that Disney is making good sequals ? I really like Cinderella 3 and Lillo & Stitch 2, also a sequel to Snow White,Sleeping beauty, and the Black cauldron might be intresting !

Supposedly, there will be no more sequels. I'm sure it's just a matter of time, but that's the official word right now, since Lasseter took over. Of course, with this new Princess DVDs trailers and such, it seems like they may go on with short stories based on the classic characters, so if that's what you mean, anything's possible.

[REINIER]

we still have
The little mermaid 3 which will definetely ( spelled that right )
come out early 2008

Too much work has already been done not to do so!

[blackcauldron85]

I figured that this would be the thread to post this in:

http://animated-views.com/2008/disneyto ... od-carter/

That's an interview with Tod Carter, who worked for DisneyToon Studios. I haven't started reading the article yet, but there are pictures of storyboards for sequels that never came out, which is very cool! I'm going to go read the article now...!

*edit* I'm reading the article, and he mentions how Pocahontas didn't come out on video until 2000, so the people working on Pocahontas II didn't get to watch the original film as a reference...um, Pocahontas came on video in 1997, right? So I don't know what he's talking about...

[singerguy04]

A very interesting interview. I would say that maybe he wasn't in the US when Pocahontas was released on video. Didn't the French studio make Pocahontas II? If that's the case, that might be what he's talking about.

[jotaabs]

when I was young I watched some sequels because in that time I couldn't tell there was a diference between animated classics and disneytoon sequels.
Now the last one I saw, last year, was huchback 2. I watched the entire movie, but since the first moment I lost my motivation. Quasimodo was horrible (he was kinda naice in the first movie) and Esmeralda was taken straight from extreme makeover.

Since then, I lost the motivation for all sequels from disneytoons. I can only recommend Lion King 2. I think it's a really good movie in fact.

[Jan<3]

In my opinion, a little personal review:

The Rescuers Down Under - This is one of the better sequels. The animation in it is gorgeous, and the characters are loveable. This movie makes it seem like the original never stopped. I LOVED having Bernard and Bianca have their original voice actors. For being the first Disney sequel, I would say this is up there with connections with the predecessors. 4/5

Fantasia 2000 - This is another amazing sequel. Walt always wanted to make a sequel to "Fantasia", and this one would do justice to Walt's original classic. The sequences in it are breath-taking with their animation, and the music is captivating. The little snippets of famous people talking is a bit annoying, but it does add some class to the film. 4.5/5

Aladdin and the King of Thieves - Well... this one has it's moments. However, the story is not very appealing, and not Aladdin-like at all. The animation is very sub-par, and the idea to bring Aladdin's dad into it seems weird. The songs in this movie are good. Overrall I'd say this movie is adaquete. 3/5

Atlantis II: Milo's Return- For me this movie was slightley enjoyable. However, I think it needs to be viewed as a completely seperate film from the origianl. I enjoyed it, but it was NOTHING like the original. The animation lacked in enthusiasm and the characters seemed off balanced. 2/5

Bambi II - Beautiful. The one word that sums this movie up. The animation is amazing, the colors are rich, the characters are lovable, and the feeling of the story is heart-warming. This sequel is one of the best, probably because it uses both ideas scrapped from the original, and original art work from the original. I would highly recommending seeing, if not owning, this sequel. It is a delight to watch, and a beautiful story. 4.5/5

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas - This movie is fun. I didn't like the idea of a sequel to my favorite Disney movie, however this has it's moments. This movie has a few good songs, and a decent story. I loved some of the animation and I loved how the characters stayed true to theirselves, and the voice actors returned. This movie is awesome to watch during the holidays. I'd say this movie is truely magical in that sense of movie making, but can't say it's one of the better ones. 3.5/5

Belle's Magical World - This is a slap in the face to "Beauty and the Beast". This movie lacks EVERYTHING the original had. The animation is below TV level, the songs are corny and un-imaginative, the stories aren't entertaining. THis is probably one of the worst ones of the list, being near the bottom. I hated how I felt this movie robbed the original of it's class and elegance. 1/5

Brother Bear 2 - This is a beautifully done movie. The animation keeps up with it's predecessor and the songs are amazing (done by Melissa Ethridge). The story is decent. This movie is fairly good for being a sequel to a movie that didn't do very well in theatres. The only thing I didn't like was how Kenai lost his original voice, and the new voice sounds nothing like him. It bothered me through out the whole movie. However, I would highly praise this movie for it's music, animation and creativity. 3.5/5

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Enjoyable. This movie was alright, considering it was highly anticipated. The only problems I had with this movie were that I felt it lost the Narnia feeling the original had, and it didn't stay true to the book like the original. However, the movie is overlly enjoyable and I highly praised the music and scoring, and the acting talents in it. The ending is beautifully done. This movie made me stoked for the third one. 4/5

Cinderella II: Dream's Come True - I would rank this the third worst sequel. The movie has nothign to do with the original, no songs, the characters are completely out of character, and the new characters bring nothing to the table. The cover of the song 'Bibbiti Bobbiti Boo' was horrendous too. 2/5

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time - Amazing!!!! This I have labelled the best sequel I have seen from the Disney franchise. The animation is beautiful, the songs enjoyable and the story is highly fascinating and makes you curious throughout the whole movie. "Cinderella III" made it seem like the original never ended, which I love. I also loved how this movie reminded me of so many other Disney movies. Overall this is a FANTASTIC movie, and should be viewed and owned. 5/5

An Extremely Goofy Movie - Again, highly enjoyable. The original being so amazing, this movie does it justice. This movie is highly enjoyable, and should be viewed as one of the better sequels. It was fun, and entertaining to watch. 3/5

The Fox and the Hound 2 - Had nothing to do with the original, it felt like it was a whole new movie with a dog and fox for the protagonists. It completely disregarded the ideas of the original, and this movie did nothing to justify to original masterpiece. Sure, the friendship theme is still in tact, and the animation is gorgeous. However, the songs are decent and the lack of trueness to the original made this movie sub par. 2.5/5

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II - Again, another movie at the bottom of the barrel. This movie sucked!!! The animation was horrid, the songs non-enjoyable. All the magic the original created, this movie destroyed. It didn't stay true to the original and I could tell it was rushed to completion. The new characters are annoying, and are hard to be welcomed, and the old characters have lost their spunk. 1/5

The Jungle Book 2 - This was fairly decent. However, the story resembled the same story as the original. However, the animation was breath-taking, and the use of CG at the end was outstanding. The music was decent, but bring back 'Bare Necessities' rendered the magic. Overrall, enjoyable. 3/5

Kronk's New Groove - Another awesome movie. The characters are fun, and funny. Kronk remains true to his original self. The music is fun and catchy in this movie (especially the 'Let's Groove' sequence). The three stories flowed together nicely, and the return of Yzma was awesome. This movie is full of hilarious moments, just like the original and I highly enjoyed it. 4.5/5

Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure - This movie was decent. The animation was beautiful, the songs we alright, the story reversed order of the original. It's a cute movie, and a nice little romance movie. Overrall this is a slightly enjoyable movie. 3/5

Leroy and Stitch - Boring and cheesy... all I have to say. 1.5/5

Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch- Beautiful. I loved this movie. I loved the animation, the songs, the story made it feel like the original didn't stop. The characters are true and the voice acting, although not the same, does justice. The ending was very sad, and I loved how it made me cry, because it got me that attached to the movie. This is a very fun movie, which I rank up in the top 5. 5/5

The Lion King 1 1/2 - Annoying, and was a slap in the face to the original. Only upside was Pumbaa and Timon were hilarious as ever, and the songs were catchy. 2/5

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride - Beautifully done. This movie was great as well. Nothing like the original, but it had it's moments. The animation is slightly under the original, but the music in this movie is amazing! I loved how this was based on a Shakespeare play, like the original. Enjoyable, and satisfying. 3.5/5

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - Ariel shouldn't have had kids. It just isn't very "mermaid-y" this movie. It doesn't feel at all like the original. Melody is annoying, and Morgana is a knock off of Ursula (my favorite villain). The songs are sub par, and Ariel's image as a mermaid is awkward and not graceful. 2/5

The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning - Fun. A lot of fun. This movie was so fun and funny. The animation was beautiful, the characters adorable and lovable, and the story was sweet. I'd rank this in the top 5 best too. The musical sequences are fun, and made me want to dance along. The villain is funny and cute. Highly entertaining. 4.5/5

Mulan II - This was adaquete as well. It wasn't anything special. However, it wasn't horrible. The characters felt the same, the music wasn't great, the story was decent. I hated how Mushu COMPLETELY changed int character. However, this is a decent film. 3/5

101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure - This movie is very cute and entertaining. This is another example of an excellent sequel, making the original feel like it never stopped. The characters are lovable, and the animation is just like the original. Cruella continues to be twisted and lovable. This movie is full of entertainment and cute moments. 4/5


Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World - Lacking and un-motivational. However, the music was beautiful and it had a few good moments. 2.5/5

Stitch! The Movie - Stitch has a glitch... of boredom! 2/5

Tarzan II - This movie was cute. The animation in it is breathtaking, and the story is heartwarming. The emotion in the movie is highly emotive and makes me involved in the story even more. It has nothing on the originial, however, it does have a few moments and beautiful animation. 3/5

Tarzan and Jane - Lacking, un-memorable, boring 1/5

Toy Story 2 - Again, another highly praises sequel on my behalf. Honestly, I prefer this movie than the original. I loved however the animation stayed the same, and all the same voice actors came back. I also LOVED the new characters, especially Jesse. The story is intriquing and made me entertained. I also loved how they used abandoned concepts from the original, and the song sung my Sarah McLachlan was beautiful. Highly entertaining. 4.5/5

Aladdin and the Return of Jafar - This movie was quite entertaining actually. The return of a villain is always cool to see because you get to see what becomes of them. The animation was TV level. However, the songs were fun and the story was cute and it stayed true to the original. 3/5

Peter Pan II: Return to Neverland - Beautifully done, again. The animation in this movie is gorgeous. Also, Jonatha Brook's singing of the three songs fit well within the movie and add a sense of emotion to the movie that makes it that much better. THis movie is just as magical as the original. However, the only down side was they replaced the crocodile with an octopus... not a good choice. The ending with Wendy and Peter was magical and very emotional. The story was alright considering it was about the child of an original character... however, the title character stays true. 4/5