In defense of The Lion King 1 1/2, I didnt think I was gonna like it because of the overuse of Timon and Pumbaa as characters. But I was rather surprised.
It's not intended to be a sequel/spinoff film/whatever that takes itself seriously, but it had enough heart and character development (in Timon mostly) to keep me interested in this new version of the original Lion King story. I loved the music and animation. More in tune with the original film.
I considered it a notch above The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. Lion King 2 was still an amazing story for a Disney sequel but was flawed in animation and character portrayal. I think if they had made that film around the time they did Lion King 1 1/2 it wouldve been much more amazing.
Opinions on the Disney Animated Classic sequels?
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singerguy04
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I feel like my emotions towards the sequels change with the tides.
I guess I could just go through them all and remark on a few, there seems to be too many to really go into detail about what i think about them. If i wanted to do that i'd just write a book about them all.
I'm not going to include any of the theatrically released ones (except TJB2 and RtN since they are in a completely different league), also just sequels to the animated classics. I'll also rank them best to worst IMO.
1.) Cinderella III- The animation is very well done, story is captivating, and whether it tries to or not it is one of the funiest sequels done.
2.) Bambi II
3.) Ariel's Begining- If this film had a better villain, it’d definitely be in the #1 spot
4.) Kronk's New Groove- Stays true to the original, and cracks me up every time
5.) Return to Neverland
6.) Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
7.) The Lion King 1 1/2
8.) Brother Bear 2
9.) 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure
10.) Mulan II
11.) Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure
12.) Pooh's Grand Adventure
13.) The Lion King 2
14.) The Little Mermaid II- I personally like the story and wish that the animation would’ve supported it better.
15.) The Fox and the Hound 2- I really like the animation and wish that the story would’ve supported it better
16.) The Jungle Book 2
17.) Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
18.) Return of Jafar- obviously the first DTV sequel, if it had better animation it’d be one of my top favorites.
19.) Tarzan II
20.) Pocahontas II- at times I really feel good about this film, but most of the time I feel like the only reason why this exists is to try to straighten the tale and make it more historically accurate and I really hate that.
21.) Aladdin and the King of Thieves- I feel like everything below this point could be mistaken for the cheap knock-offs you’d find at a dollar store.
22.) Leroy & Stitch
23.) Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
24.) Stitch! the movie
25.) Atlantis: Milo's Return
26.) Tarzan & Jane
27.) The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
28.) Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World
I guess I could just go through them all and remark on a few, there seems to be too many to really go into detail about what i think about them. If i wanted to do that i'd just write a book about them all.
I'm not going to include any of the theatrically released ones (except TJB2 and RtN since they are in a completely different league), also just sequels to the animated classics. I'll also rank them best to worst IMO.
1.) Cinderella III- The animation is very well done, story is captivating, and whether it tries to or not it is one of the funiest sequels done.
2.) Bambi II
3.) Ariel's Begining- If this film had a better villain, it’d definitely be in the #1 spot
4.) Kronk's New Groove- Stays true to the original, and cracks me up every time
5.) Return to Neverland
6.) Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
7.) The Lion King 1 1/2
8.) Brother Bear 2
9.) 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure
10.) Mulan II
11.) Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure
12.) Pooh's Grand Adventure
13.) The Lion King 2
14.) The Little Mermaid II- I personally like the story and wish that the animation would’ve supported it better.
15.) The Fox and the Hound 2- I really like the animation and wish that the story would’ve supported it better
16.) The Jungle Book 2
17.) Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
18.) Return of Jafar- obviously the first DTV sequel, if it had better animation it’d be one of my top favorites.
19.) Tarzan II
20.) Pocahontas II- at times I really feel good about this film, but most of the time I feel like the only reason why this exists is to try to straighten the tale and make it more historically accurate and I really hate that.
21.) Aladdin and the King of Thieves- I feel like everything below this point could be mistaken for the cheap knock-offs you’d find at a dollar store.
22.) Leroy & Stitch
23.) Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
24.) Stitch! the movie
25.) Atlantis: Milo's Return
26.) Tarzan & Jane
27.) The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
28.) Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World
I don't have a problem with DTV sequels and I can't understand people who say things like "The original film is ruined" and "Walt Disney's turning in his grave". It's not like the original film ceased to exist 
.
DTV sequels are -- by all accounts -- unnecessary, but I like to see the continuation of the story. However, this doesn't mean I like all of them: most of them are indeed bad, but there are quite a few little gems in there. One thing I never understood: there are Disney films that literally scream for sequels and whose source material has sequels of its own ("Tarzan", "The Black Cauldron", "Alice in Wonderland", "Bambi") and yet Disney chose to make sequels to their fairytale films
.
I think the early sequels are Disney's best. Sure, the animation is sub-par, but I still get the feeling I'm watching the characters from the original films and not some impostors. I wish one day Disney decides to give all their sequels a makeover and improve the animation of the sequels to TLK 3 level. Then they could put original versions on the DVD as work-in-progress. I know that will never happen, but I can still dream, can't I?
Here's how I'd rate Disney's DTV sequels (including "Return to Never Land" and "Jungle Book 2"):
- Aladdin: The Return of Jafar - The animation is awful, but the story is quite good. What I like about it is how the characters stayed true to themselves, there weren't sudden changes in personality. Songs were for the most part great. 5/5
- Aladdin and the King of Thieves - The animation is slightly better than in RoJ, but interesting plot and great score make up for it. The ending brings tears to my eyes. 5/5
- Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas - Simply amazing. 5/5
- Cinderella III: A Twist in Time - It surpasses its predecessor in any way possible. Truly great film. 5/5
- The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride - I'm not a big fan of the original, but I have to admit this film is quite good. Zira is a great villain. 4/5
- Bambi II - Great animation, and the story's quite good. 4/5
- Mulan II - Quite good. Mushu was annoying though. Also, it felt like all the epicness of the original was gone. It definitely needed a real fight scene. 4/5
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame II - I really liked this one. The animation was awful though. 3.5/5
- 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure - I haven't seen it in a long time, but I remember being entertained by it. 3.5/5
- Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure - Same as above. 3.5/5
- Stitch! The Movie - Same as above. 3.5/5
- Atlantis: Milo's Return - Same as above. 3.5/5
- The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata/The Lion King 1 1/2 - this one has the best animation of all the sequels, but some aspects of the plot are insulting to the original film. 3/5
- The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - It's pretty mediocre, but the plot is somewhat interesting. Songs are bad. 3/5
- Peter Pan: Return to Never Land - Same as above. 3/5
- Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World - The segments were decent. For a TV show. 2/5
- Hercules: Zero to Hero - The animation that links the episodes together is beyond awful, but the episodes themselves are quite good. However, for the lack of originality, I rate it 2/5.
- Tarzan & Jane - It has the same problem as H:ZtH. 2/5
- Cinderella II: Dreams Come True - It has grown on me, but it's still awful. 2/5
- Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World - Really bad. However, I should give it the credit for having John Smith reveal his true colors and showing he was a jerk all along, because I never understood all that great romance between him and Pocahontas in the original film. 2/5
- The Jungle Book 2 - Beyond awful. I will never understand how can anyone deem this suitable for a theatrical presentation. 1/5
Haven't seen:
- Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
- The Fox and the Hound 2
- The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
- Tarzan II
- Kronk's New Groove
- Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
- Leroy & Stitch
- Brother Bear 2
EDIT: Oh, and about "Aristocats 2": it sounds like it could have been a good film, kind of like "101 Dalmatians 2" and "LatT 2". I'm glad they never made it, though: I would hate to see the characters in CG
.DTV sequels are -- by all accounts -- unnecessary, but I like to see the continuation of the story. However, this doesn't mean I like all of them: most of them are indeed bad, but there are quite a few little gems in there. One thing I never understood: there are Disney films that literally scream for sequels and whose source material has sequels of its own ("Tarzan", "The Black Cauldron", "Alice in Wonderland", "Bambi") and yet Disney chose to make sequels to their fairytale films
.I think the early sequels are Disney's best. Sure, the animation is sub-par, but I still get the feeling I'm watching the characters from the original films and not some impostors. I wish one day Disney decides to give all their sequels a makeover and improve the animation of the sequels to TLK 3 level. Then they could put original versions on the DVD as work-in-progress. I know that will never happen, but I can still dream, can't I?
Here's how I'd rate Disney's DTV sequels (including "Return to Never Land" and "Jungle Book 2"):
- Aladdin: The Return of Jafar - The animation is awful, but the story is quite good. What I like about it is how the characters stayed true to themselves, there weren't sudden changes in personality. Songs were for the most part great. 5/5
- Aladdin and the King of Thieves - The animation is slightly better than in RoJ, but interesting plot and great score make up for it. The ending brings tears to my eyes. 5/5
- Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas - Simply amazing. 5/5
- Cinderella III: A Twist in Time - It surpasses its predecessor in any way possible. Truly great film. 5/5
- The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride - I'm not a big fan of the original, but I have to admit this film is quite good. Zira is a great villain. 4/5
- Bambi II - Great animation, and the story's quite good. 4/5
- Mulan II - Quite good. Mushu was annoying though. Also, it felt like all the epicness of the original was gone. It definitely needed a real fight scene. 4/5
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame II - I really liked this one. The animation was awful though. 3.5/5
- 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure - I haven't seen it in a long time, but I remember being entertained by it. 3.5/5
- Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure - Same as above. 3.5/5
- Stitch! The Movie - Same as above. 3.5/5
- Atlantis: Milo's Return - Same as above. 3.5/5
- The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata/The Lion King 1 1/2 - this one has the best animation of all the sequels, but some aspects of the plot are insulting to the original film. 3/5
- The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - It's pretty mediocre, but the plot is somewhat interesting. Songs are bad. 3/5
- Peter Pan: Return to Never Land - Same as above. 3/5
- Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World - The segments were decent. For a TV show. 2/5
- Hercules: Zero to Hero - The animation that links the episodes together is beyond awful, but the episodes themselves are quite good. However, for the lack of originality, I rate it 2/5.
- Tarzan & Jane - It has the same problem as H:ZtH. 2/5
- Cinderella II: Dreams Come True - It has grown on me, but it's still awful. 2/5
- Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World - Really bad. However, I should give it the credit for having John Smith reveal his true colors and showing he was a jerk all along, because I never understood all that great romance between him and Pocahontas in the original film. 2/5
- The Jungle Book 2 - Beyond awful. I will never understand how can anyone deem this suitable for a theatrical presentation. 1/5
Haven't seen:
- Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
- The Fox and the Hound 2
- The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
- Tarzan II
- Kronk's New Groove
- Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
- Leroy & Stitch
- Brother Bear 2
EDIT: Oh, and about "Aristocats 2": it sounds like it could have been a good film, kind of like "101 Dalmatians 2" and "LatT 2". I'm glad they never made it, though: I would hate to see the characters in CG