11 Terrible Disney Sequels That Everyone Wants To Forget About
In terms of making quality animated masterpieces, few studios in Hollywood can match Disney, who has been making animation for almost a century. The House of Mouse has a longstanding reputation for producing exceptional and magical animated moments that have captured the hearts of audiences of all ages, from memorable classics such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella to modern-day sensations like Frozen and Moana.
However, the same cannot be said for their track record with sequels. While many of the original films have become timeless classics, the follow-up Movies have often been criticized for their lackluster storytelling, poor animation, and overall inferior quality. For example, despite their financial success, films such as Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World and The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea have failed to live up to the high standards set by their predecessors. In this article, let’s take a look at Disney’s most abysmal movie sequels so far (Pixar included), which makes us ponder if the studio should really continue this trend at all, or if they should instead focus on making more original movies.
#1. Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True (2001)
Source: Disney
While the first movie was a huge iconic success that stays quite faithful to the original tale, Cinderella 2 decided to take some liberty in storytelling, and it failed miserably. I mean, who in the right mind would think that bringing Lady Tremaine back as the main villain and making Anastasia have a change of heart would be a good idea? The only saving grace of the movie is probably just the improved animation compared to the first.
#2. Aladdin 2: The Return of Jafar (1994)
Source: Disney
While the sequel was actually a financial success, it’s still widely considered a letdown by the audience, mostly due to the massive downgrade in terms of art and animation. The new art style couldn’t even hold a candle to the predecessor, which was made 2 years prior. The lack of Robin Williams, who didn’t reprise the role of Genie, was another disappointing factor that didn’t make fans happy.
Besides, the act of turning Iago, one of the franchise’s villains into a good guy (or bird) just didn’t make sense, as it completely took away Aladdin’s screen time in the sequel.
#3. Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998)
Source: Disney
The first movie about Pocahontas wasn’t much of a box office hit and even sparked some controversies regarding the twisting of the historical figure, so Disney’s move to make a sequel raised some eyebrows. And as expected, the second film received mostly negative reviews, even though the House of Mouse tried to make things right by introducing Jon Rolfe, Pocahontas’s real-life husband, into the movie.
#4. Tarzan and Jane (2002)
Source: Disney
The 1998 release of Tarzan took the world by storm with its beautiful animation and breathtaking scenery, so people would expect the sequel, Tarzan and Jane, to be at least on par with its predecessor. Well, the expectation wasn’t met. It turns out, Tarzan and Jane is just a low-effort compilation consisting of three episodes of the titular TV series cobbled up together, which saw a huge drop in terms of animation and art style. With the best aspect – the animation - of the first movie gone, there’s not much to look at in the sequel.
#5. The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000)
Source: Disney
The 1989 animation was a sensational hit, which is followed up by an equally acclaimed live-action version in 2023. However, The Little Mermaid has two long-lost sequels that most people forget about. The Little Mermaid 2, especially, was underwhelming to say the least.
The movie follows the finstep of Ariel and Eric’s daughter, Melody, who’s basically another rebellious version of her mother. The clichéd motif of “revolting against the parents will” is once again used in the sequel, which made Melody sail to the sea on her own, make a mistake, and then try to fix it. The antagonist, Morgana, is also ways less charismatic and intimidating than her sister Ursula, and didn’t leave any impression during her limited time on screen.
#6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2: The Secret of the Bell (2002)
Source: Disney
The first movie was relatively successful, which is unique for its heavier and darker theme than standard Disney movies. Well, the sequel discarded all of those, and instead focused on Quasimodo’s romance with the trapeze girl Madellaine.
Don’t get me wrong, our boy Quasimodo deserves some love after staying single in the first movie, but his scenes with Madellaine feel mediocre and lacking in chemistry. The animation is also a huge step down from the first movie, the soundtrack is average, and the villain is so forgettable I won’t even bother to mention his name.
#7. The Fox and the Hound 2 (2006)
Source: Disney
Decided to ditch the somewhat darker theme of its predecessor, The Fox and the Hound 2 focused on Tod and Copper’s much more vibrant past, however, it is the kind of motif that no one wants to watch. The new characters, Dixie and Cash, didn’t leave much impression, and the new brighter theme of the movie didn’t pay off, which made it feel like a brand-new animal movie rather than The Fox and the Hound’s sequel.
#8. Beauty and the Beast: Belle’s Magical World (1998)
Source: Disney
Like Tarzan and Jane, the film consists of three episodes of an unreleased TV series, so we can easily recognize the massive quality drop in terms of animation. The film focuses on some minor side stories in the castle before the fight with Gaston, so there aren’t many memorable details to talk about, and the musical score also isn’t on par with the original movie. Disney also attempted to release more sequels to milk money out of the audience, but none of them can live up to the high standard that Beauty and the Beast has made.
#9. Peter Pan: Return to Never Land (2002)
Source: Disney
We all love to return to the magical island of Never Land after the miraculous adventure with Wendy and Peter Pan in the first film, but the 2002 sequel simply didn’t deliver. Wendy’s daughter, Jane, didn’t make as much of an impact as her mother, and Peter just doesn’t feel the same without Bobby Driscoll's voice acting. The movie overall is short and boring, which makes Never Land suddenly doesn’t seem so magical and tempting anymore.
#10. Atlantis: Milo’s Return (2003)
Source: Disney
While the original movie wasn’t a huge hit, it’s still decent in terms of storytelling and lowkey attracted a number of cult followers. For some reason, Disney thought it was a good idea to make a sequel to an already flopped film, and the second one didn’t fare any better. Another Disney movie consists of three low-budget episodes cobbled together, the second movie lacks every charming detail that came from the predecessor, and once again proves that these kinds of compilation movie never works in the first place.
#11. Cars 2 (2011)
Source: Pixar Animation Studios
Unlike Disney, the subsidiary Pixar Studios rarely goes wrong with its animated films, with critical success such as the Toy Story franchise or Finding Nemo, but they also have their own bloopers. Cars 2 is a prime example of them.
Following the first film’s success in 2006, Cars 2 got everything wrong, from the setting to the characters. The secret spy theme made the movie look like a third-rate James Bond sequel, with unnecessary humor everywhere and below-par action sequences. Besides, while Mater is a good side character, straying too far from Lightning McQueen to give him more spotlight is a bad move overall from Pixar. Instead of turning the cars into super agents, maybe the franchise should just stick to the race track.
Which movie do you think is the worst Disney sequel? Should the studio continue to make movies like this, or should they focus on original ideas instead? Share your opinions below in the comments.