ranking ALL of disney's direct-to-video sequels 🍿💵⏳

[Music] ranking 26 of disney's direct-to-video sequels prequels and mid-calls before disney was turning out live-action remake after live-action remake the company experimented with a different get rich quick scheme direct to video sequels in the 90s and 2000s the home video market was booming as seen with the rise of stores like blockbuster and hoping to capitalize on this burgeoning market disney began producing low-cost sequels to their successful animated films while the majority of these films received mixed to negative reviews they were undeniably lucrative and over the course of a dozen or so years the company released sequels to nearly all of their animated catalog and if you're around my age then odds are you've seen your fair share of them in today's video i'll be covering the 26 direct-to-video sequels prequels and mid-quals that disney released in the 90s and 2000s i'll be going through them in chronological order explaining the plot of the film and what i liked and disliked about it and at the very end of the video i'll rank them obviously this is my opinion so don't get too upset if we wind up disagreeing we all have our own preferences when it comes to the movies we watch and i won't deny that my personal experiences make me biased towards some films more than others before we get into the rest of the video there are a few criteria for this ranking that should be noted first they have to be full length movies not tv show spin-offs or animated shorts second it must be a continuation of a film that was distributed and theatrically released by disney not one of their other divisions third any sequels that were advertised as standalone films but were actually packaged tv shows don't count that means no hercules zero to hero or tarzan and jane lastly series like tinkerbell and winnie the pooh won't be included in this ranking because they have enough sequels to get a video all to themselves sorry now that we've got that out of the way let's get into it the return of jafar following where we left off after the first film aladdin now lives in the palace with princess jasmine and her father however he's unable to give up his life of adventure and acts as a bit of a robin hood foiling criminals and divvying up the loot with the common people iago who has been trapped in the lamp with jafar is able to escape and abandons jafar after years of mistreatment once in agrabah iago inadvertently saves aladdin's life earning his gratitude and trust and iago is invited back with him to the palace the sultan grants iago a temporary pardon but most of the other characters remain distrustful of him abysmal a thief aladdin had previously thwarted finds jafar's lamp and releases him and jafar schemes to get revenge on aladdin and his friends he forces iago to betray aladdin which allows jafar to capture the sultan jasmine genie and abu feeling guilty for his trickery iago releases the genie and along with aladdin the three confront jafar who iago manages to destroy himself the film ends with aladdin and jasmine setting off to travel the world and iago finally being forgiven and accepted by everyone disney's first foray into the direct-to-video market then disney ceo michael eisner was initially resistant to the idea of a sequel feeling as though it would cheapen disney's brand image an opinion that obviously changed after the film grossed over 300 million dollars worldwide in video sales making it one of the best-selling vhs tapes of all time the film's success could be attributed to two factors the first is that it was released a mere two years after the original allowing it to capitalize on the relevancy of its predecessor a tactic some of disney's later sequels weren't able to benefit from secondly it also came out during the peak of the disney renaissance a period of time when the brand as a whole was thriving unlike the majority of disney sequels that would follow the film brought back most of the voice cast from the first film aside from the notable replacement of robin williams as the genie who had a highly publicized falling out with disney after they used him to market the first film without his permission and without proper payment as a result dan castellanetta best known as the voice of homer simpson wound up playing the genie and he unfortunately lacks the charm and energy of the person he's attempting to imitate with five original songs it's one of the more musical disney sequels but the songs themselves aren't great something i attribute to the late gilbert godfreed whose voice works wonderfully as an annoying parrot but in song is unbelievably grating despite being incredibly short clocking in at a 69-minute run time the film moves at a glacial pace with the majority of the action occurring in the final 20 minutes creating an unbalanced narrative that makes it difficult to get through the first half of the movie the purpose of most sequels is to expand upon themes introduced in the original and further develop its characters something this film fails at abysmally besides iago who just barely evolves from the self-serving coward he was in the first film the rest of the characters are one-dimensional versions of themselves even jafar who is one of my favorite villains because he's so slimy and conceited lacks the pizzazz that made him such an interesting character to begin with all of this combined with the less than stellar animation makes for a lackluster viewing experience that i won't be repeating anytime soon honestly the only thing i actively liked about the film is jasmine's new purple outfit aladdin and the king of thieves following the financial success of the return of jafar disney quickly pushed another sequel into production with aladdin and the king of thieves serving as a continuation of its immediate predecessor and the animated tv series similar to the original film it also takes inspiration from 1001 nights specifically the tale of alibaba and the 40 thieves just when they're finally getting married aladdin and jasmine's wedding is rudely interrupted by the infamous band of 40 thieves after driving the group off aladdin and his friends he got the oracle who has the magical ability to answer any question which prompts aladdin to ask about his long-lost father who is revealed to be amongst the 40 thieves after tracking them down aladdin discovers that his father kasim is in fact the leader of the group having left aladdin and his mother behind on a quest for the hand of midas which can turn anything into gold upon reuniting kasim invites aladdin to join the 40 thieves who in turn asks haseem to return to agaba and live an honest life kasim goes back with him but secretly partners up with iago in order to capture the oracle hoping to have her reveal the location of the hand of midas while attempting to steal the oracle the two are captured and imprisoned but aladdin releases them becoming a criminal himself although jasmine and the genie are able to convince the sultan to pardon him kasim is later captured by the remaining members of the 40 thieves and is forced to lead them to the hand of midas while iago escapes and brings back the others for help after aladdin is taken hostage qasim is forced to choose between him and the hand of midas and he chooses his son saving them all in the process upon returning to agrabah kasim is exiled by the sultan but not before seeing aladdin and jasmine get married and he departs on a new adventure with iago one notable improvement to this film is the return of robin williams as the genie who decided to accept the role after receiving a 1 million salary and an apology from disney studio chief joe roth his songs are the best of the bunch and unsurprisingly he's also the funniest character something the film unfortunately uses as a crutch creating an uneven tone that is all the more noticeable when every other character besides iago is played straight speaking of iago it almost feels as though the character has regressed since the last film once again focusing on monetary gain instead of the well-being of others and despite sharing quite a bit of screen time his friendship with kasim doesn't come off as genuine and his eventual abandonment of his cushy life in agrabah feels incredibly out of character for the cowardly bird compared to her previous depictions this version of jasmine is given a more active role in the film breaking away from her usual story arc something i consider an improvement from the last sequel instead of being lied to by aladdin with the two having to repair their relationship he's open with her about his insecurities and she's able to come to his defense in the past she's often been relegated to nothing more than a cliche damsel in distress but in this film she joins the battle and defends herself and once again i like her new outfits all the films in this series follow a character's redemption starting with aladdin then iago and now kasim and while i appreciate the attempt at creating an overarching message by this point it feels redundant while i like the concept of introducing aladdin's father especially because it's one of the first times you've expanded on the character's backstory i don't think it was executed very well especially since kasim is so bland and boring which is a major hindrance to the film as he's one of the main characters instead of aladdin discovering kasim's identity immediately something which is incredibly anticlimactic they should have had aladdin spend more time as a member of the 40 thieves in an attempt to gain the group's trust in order to find out what happened to his father then during that time aladdin could have learned more about their motivations realizing that there's more to them than greed showing that good and evil isn't black and white while also mirroring the original film's message that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover by doing this his relationship with kasim could have progressed in a more natural manner making their eventual reunion and kaseem sacrifice more heartfelt with disney announcing a sequel to their live-action aladdin i'm really hoping their plan is to create an entirely new story because if they wind up taking inspiration from the direct-to-video sequels we're in for a rough time beauty and the beast the enchanted christmas both a sequel and the mid coal the story is framed as mrs potts relaying the tale of the castle's previous christmas which takes place after belle rescues the beast from the wolves in the first film it's revealed that the beast despises the holiday season having been cursed on an earlier christmas eve but bell decides to celebrate anyway in the hopes of raising his spirits which the majority of the castle's residents support as they believe it will further their romance and help break the spell the only exception is forte a pipe organ who is formerly the court composer who prefers his enchanted form and his newfound influence over the beast when bell stumbles upon forte he suggests that she venture into the forest to find a christmas tree and uses the opportunity to trick the beast into thinking that she's run away in anger the beast destroys the castle's christmas decorations and storms off to look for belle who in her attempt to get a tree almost drowns which is only prevented by the beast who is able to save her in time when they return to the castle he locks belle in the dungeon where she's comforted by the rest of the castle's residence the beast then discovers belle's handmade present a storybook and upon reading it he has a change of heart releasing belle and giving her his consent to celebrate christmas this infuriates forte who attempts to use his powers to destroy the castle but everyone bands together to stand against him and he's destroyed allowing the castle residents to celebrate christmas in peace i'll admit that this was one of my favorites as a kid so i have a soft spot for it but even as an adult i think it holds up pretty well one reason is likely the animation quality which is leagues above the other direct-to-video sequels released around the same time and it even includes a sequence where they experiment with a storybook art style forte's cgi has obviously aged with time but it isn't so noticeable that it's distracting and most importantly it still works in the context of the film after all he's the villain and having a visual representation that he's at odds with everyone else makes sense i also find the story to be stronger than most of disney's sequels as it has a villain with clear motives remains true to past characterization has a clear three-act structure and even makes a reasonable amount of sense in the original film's timeline although admittedly like most med calls the film creates a slight continuity error by destroying the castle which there's no evidence of in the original film the majority of new characters introduced in disney sequels are uninspired but in the case of the enchanted christmas they're all excellent having distinct personalities that justify their addition to the story and playing well with the characters we already know and love the voice actors also do a phenomenal job of bringing these characters to life with tim curry being a wonderfully wicked villain and bernadette peters making angelique instantly lovable they also managed to find the perfect balance between drama and humor having strong lines all around instead of relying on a single comedic character to break up the tension beauty and the beast belle's magical world another mid qual the film takes place sometime after the events in the enchanted christmas but before the palace's fight against the villagers consisting of episodes from the unreleased beauty and the beast tv show the film has four different stories that are loosely connected to one another the first of disney's direct-to-video releases to employ this strategy the first story follows a miscommunication between the beast and bell which is exacerbated due to the meddling of some of the palace's anthropomorphic servants but they're all eventually able to make amends by apologizing the second story takes place on lumiere's anniversary with fifi the feather duster lumiere is so nervous about the evening that he turns to bell for advice which fifi overhears and mistakes for an affair resulting in a series of misunderstandings before they're able to clear things up and express their feelings for one another in the third story bell begins taking care of an injured bird which the beast reacts to with anger prompting bell to teach him the importance of treating others with respect and compassion the final story which was only added to later editions of the film follows a depressed mrs potts who the castle attempts to cheer up by throwing a party leading to a rivalry between lumiere and cogsworth which they must put aside for the greater good because it's a bunch of scrapped tv episodes stitched together the pacing is all over the place feeling rushed at some points and dawdling at others resulting in an experience that is impossible to resonate with emotionally the stories themselves are incredibly generic having straightforward messages you could find in any children's tv show and they fail to add anything of substance to the world of beauty and the beast and unlike the enchanted christmas which introduced an assortment of interesting characters everyone in this film is forgettable at best my biggest problem with the film is how unlikable everyone is with pretty much every character treating belle like absolute crap which he blames herself for for some bizarre reason they should have called it belle's miserable world instead even the beast who at this point in time in the original film is already fond of belle is a complete shouting constantly storming around the castle banishing people on a whim and destroying various objects while the original beast is awkward at times with a hot temper in this film he's completely detestable having the social awareness and maturity of a toddler this leaves belle as the only character who isn't absolutely infuriating to watch but she's such a bland version of herself that you almost forget about her entirely making the viewing experience so monotonous that every time a sequence ends you're desperately hoping it's the last one the film only has two songs and they both sort of remind me of the music in 1973's charlotte's web or 1994's swan princess which might explain why i find the songs in belle's magical world tolerable they're definitely not as good as the enchanted christmas being too cheesy and on the nose to listen to repeatedly but at least they're not painful to listen to i'm generally not a huge fan of disney employing this anthology format but this film might be the worst of the bunch pocahontas 2 journey to the new world the film begins with john smith going missing and being presumed dead leaving pocahontas devastated by the news with tensions rising between her people and the colonizing english pocahontas is invited by john rolfe to come to england as an ambassador in the hopes of preventing war upon arriving in england pocahontas is struck by the cultural differences but does her best to adapt nearly losing sight of herself in the process influenced by the villain of the first film radcliffe king james invites pocahontas to a ball where he expects her to subvert their expectations of her savage background and behave in a civilized manner something juxtaposed by the fact that in pocahontas's eyes the english are the ones who behave savagely a message that was also present in the original film radcliffe sabotages the evening and pocahontas winds up imprisoned in the tower of london but she's rescued by jon rolfe and john smith returning to the king pocahontas is able to prove radcliffe's treachery and he's arrested allowing them to stop the armada having fallen in love with pocahontas over the course of the film john rolfe returns with her to jamestown and the film ends as they set out on their journey much like the original film pocahontas ii is riddled with historical inaccuracies falsely depicting the real pocahontas time in england as well as her relationship with both john smith and john rolfe not to mention it glosses over the fact that it was actually this trip that led to her untimely death at the age of 21 which yes probably would have been too bleak for a family-friendly film but is consistent with hollywood's problematic habit of romanticizing her life considering disney had already received so much criticism for their inaccurate depiction of pocahontas in the first film i feel like a movie about her entirely fictional friend nakoma might have been a more appropriate decision while john ralph's relationship with pocahontas is at least rooted in reality unlike the original film which fabricated her romance with john smith disney's attempt to explain to its viewers why pocahontas ends up with a different man is incredibly clumsy and the love triangle comes across as forced and awkward the film's attempt to condemn prejudice also falls flat as it routinely stereotypes and objectifies its indigenous characters with pocahontas and utamotomakin being openly lusted after by numerous people the film briefly touches upon gender race and class imbalances of the time period but not enough where it feels meaningful and i wish they'd explored those ideas further even if it might have gone over their intended audience's head many of the characters in the film are reduced to bland knockoffs of their past selves while john smith was always cocky in this film he's absolutely insufferable constantly showboating and getting into multiple pissing matches with jon rolfe and overall they seem to treat pocahontas like an object instead of a person the strength and independence pocahontas exhibited in the first film has now been replaced with naivete and passivity leaving her a one-dimensional version of herself that has to be rescued by others as a lover of fashion especially big poofy dresses the scene where pocahontas gets dressed for the ball is enjoyable and fun even if it isn't totally period accurate but i do wish we could have seen her in a larger variety of native garments especially when such a large part of the film's storyline is about remaining true to who she is one of the few things i liked about the film was the music which has a listen ability that many of the other sequels lack i prefer some to others but they're all a vast improvement from the aladdin sequels and i'd even say that things are not what they appear is catchy and clever enough to have made it into a normal disney film the lion king 2 simba's pride like most disney sequels the lion king 2 received negative reviews upon its release but in recent years it's been reevaluated more favorably with many critics calling it one of disney's best direct-to-video projects similar to how the original film took inspiration from william shakespeare's hamlet the lion king 2 is an adaptation of romeo and juliet with the story following two star-crossed lovers from feuding families now king of the pride lands simba has developed his father's overprotective nature much to the chagrin of his adventurous daughter kiara as a child she enters the forbidden outlands where she meets a young lion named kovu who was supposed to be the successor of simba's uncle scar simba discovers the two children misunderstanding their playful fighting and nearly attacks kovu before being confronted by his mother zira who harbors resentment towards simba for having exiled their pride after scar's death the children are separated by their parents and warned against seeing one another again although both protest the decision as young adults kiara and kovu meet once again and zira exploits their past friendship in order to get kovu accepted into the pride lands as the two start spending time together kovu begins falling in love with kiara forgetting about his mission to kill simba and avenge scar realizing that he's failed zera plans an attack against simba herself turning kovu against her and simba against him kiara is able to convince her father that he's making a mistake and she and kovu attempt to reunite the two prides which zira refuses to accept resulting in her accidental death simba invites all of the lions back into the pride lands and appoints kovu and kiara as his successors signaling a brighter future for all of the lions the film is somewhat derivative of the original covering the same themes of vengeance betrayal responsibility prejudice and adversity with the only new addition to the story being the romantic conflict the original film remains one of disney's greatest masterpieces and the sequel is utterly unable to escape from its shadow making frequent callbacks that come across less like thoughtful homages and more like the production's inability to innovate although admittedly that isn't entirely a bad thing as this repetition allows it to flow from the first movie seamlessly like the original film the action sequences are spectacular and there are multiple moments that are genuinely terrifying something not many disney sequels are able to accomplish not to mention the story actually feels fully realized with kovu undergoing a true hero's journey although i do wish kiara had a bit more development although the new characters share many similarities to their predecessors with kovu resembling simba kiara nala and zira scar there are enough differences to help them stand on their own though i personally think that scar is a far superior villain azira's animosity doesn't seem warranted until after her son's death halfway through the movie while one of simba's defining features in the first movie was his easygoing personality i think the close-mindedness he exhibits in this film is a realistic progression for the character after all he has bigger responsibilities now not only is he a ruler but also a parent some of the songs are taken directly from the lion king musical and those are without a doubt the strongest of the bunch but i'd say that the majority are fairly forgettable especially eupendy which feels like a bad knock off of under the sea from the little mermaid and i always find myself wanting to fast forward through love we'll find a way which is a cheesy pop ballad that doesn't hold a candle to can you feel the love tonight one of the things i found myself most annoyed with in this film was the emphasis placed on timon and pumbaa who even as a child were never my favorite characters their signature lowbrow comedy is ever present in the film and is often ill-timed distracting from numerous heartfelt and emotional moments this type of humor is something a child is sure to enjoy but as an adult i find it predictable and in the context of the film it does nothing except create an uneven tone out of all the disney sequels so far it's definitely the one that feels most like a real movie i just don't personally find myself resonating with the story and its characters as much as i do some of the other films the little mermaid 2 returned to the sea following in the footsteps of the lion king 2 this film also ages up its original characters now happily married eric and ariel are celebrating the birth of their child melody when they're interrupted by ursula's sister morgana who plans to take king train's trident and rule the ocean herself they're able to stop her but she escapes swearing vengeance on all of them terrified for her daughter's safety ariel decides to keep melody away from the sea in order to protect her getting rid of all evidence of merfolk and constructing a wall between the castle and the ocean twelve years later melody struggles to find her place on land and is drawn to the sea despite being forbidden from it after a disastrous party where she's embarrassed in front of her peers melody runs away where she's found by morgana's henchmen and led back to her lair in order to gain melody's trust morgana transforms her into a mermaid but tells her that she must steal king train's trident if she wants the spell to be permanent meanwhile ariel has transformed back into a mermaid in the hopes of finding melody herself and the two eventually cross paths but only after melody has already stolen the trident despite ariel's warnings melody gives the trident to morgana who promptly captures the rest of the merfolk and traps melody in a cave nearly killing her when her spell wears off during the ensuing battle melody is able to steal the trident back and triton is able to trap morgana in a block of ice sinking her to the bottom of the ocean never to be seen again with their family reunited triton offers to turn melody into a mermaid permanently but instead she uses the trident to destroy the wall surrounding the castle giving everyone the chance to be a part of the landon sea this is without a doubt the disney sequel i watched the most as a child even going as far as to beg my mother to buy me the computer game so don't be surprised if my nostalgia winds up influencing my opinion of it since it takes place several years after the original film the premise is inherently interesting to fans as they're curious about what happened to their favorite characters and i appreciate that the film actually shows how everyone has changed over the years with flounder becoming a stereotypical middle-aged dad and king triton a doting grandfather even eric despite having a relatively small amount of screen time is further developed while he's still the dashing hero he was in the original film he's more affectionate and playful and all of his interactions with ariel and melody are full of understanding and acceptance also the shot of him in aerial kissing in the water is just excellent while it's an obvious rehashing of the original film there are enough differences that it doesn't feel like you're watching the exact same movie for one ariel isn't nearly as unreasonable apparent as king triton a realistic character choice as she has a better understanding of how melody feels as someone who was also a fish out of water younger than ariel was in her movie melody's personality is an accurate representation of tweendom with a character acting awkwardly around boys and feeling uncomfortable in her own skin the film expands upon the idea of not fitting in which was only touched upon in the original film and it winds up feeling more realistic with melody being treated as a weirdo by her peers instead of her parents not to mention the fact that melody decides to venture into the sea out of a desire for adventure and acceptance not romance and rebellion since the 1990s disney has cast celebrities in their animated projects as an easy marketing tactic and their direct to video sequels were no different but the little mermaid 2 was an exception to the rule with melody being played by tara strong who voiced some of the most iconic characters of our childhoods like timmy turner bubbles and raven because of her experience the character's personality is able to fly off the screen making her instantly more interesting than other leads in disney sequels who suffered from flat performances all of these factors made the character incredibly three-dimensional and it's no surprise that most of the film's praise was directed towards her also can we talk about how stinking cute melody looks as a baby other than melody morgana is the only new character who makes a lasting impression with her inferiority complex and mommy issues creating a villain that is wholly unique to the disney universe and the fact that she's voiced by pat carroll who also played ursula in the first film is a nice addition although i do wish she'd gotten a song of her own the songs that did make it into the film are okay they do a good job of setting the scene and providing exposition but i don't find myself actively enjoying any of them except here on the land and sea melody's new friends tip and dash are clearly inspired by timon and pumba although i find them slightly less annoying than the meerkat and warthog probably because there's actually more to their personalities than farts and food although they're fairly competent sidekicks actually helping melody on her adventure and even saving her i think i would have preferred if the film had her befriend some merfolk instead this would have provided a more direct comparison to melody's relationship with human children and better highlighted the growth of her character and i'll be honest i just wanted to see more mermaids even though it's completely unrelated every time i watch this film i can't help but think about disney's redesign of ariel's dress and how it frustrates me to no end i have a video all about her original pink dress and why it was changed to green but this film really solidifies my opinion that her blue dress should have been her main outfit she looks great in it and it makes appearances in both films come on disney lady in the 2 scamps adventure this is essentially the little mermaid two but gender swapped and doggiefied in fact there's even a point where scamp says the exact same thing to his father that melody says to her mother but you know what if girls with mommy issues got their own disney movie then boys with daddy issues deserve one too the film starts off by showing the dynamic within their household with scamp being the odd one out amongst his siblings as the only boy the only one who resembles their father and the only one who isn't well mannered after making a mess in the house scamp is chained up outside where he meets a group of stray dogs who appear to have the carefree life that he dreams of breaking free of his chains scamp meets a young member of the pack angel who brings him to the junkyard he attempts to join the group but their leader buster gives him an assortment of difficult tests that he must pass before he's accepted it's also revealed that buster had once been friends with who he now harbors resentment for over the fact that he fell in love with lady and became a house pet seemingly abandoning his friends although she and scamp develop feelings for each other angel is disgusted by the fact that he wants to choose the streets over a loving family something that she's dreamt of her entire life which causes a rift in their growing relationship scamp is eventually caught by the town dogcatcher but is saved by his father and angel who is eventually adopted by scamp's family all of the stray dogs find loving homes except for buster who ends the film in the junkyard all alone this was another sequel i watched fairly often as a kid but it was by no means my favorite largely because the father-son dynamic wasn't that interesting to me and because i thought scamp was such a whiny brat which is sort of the point i guess but it doesn't exactly make you want to root for him as far as disney direct to video sequels go this isn't a significant downgrade from the original that's only because lady and the is one of disney's tamer pictures pun intended in the original film the majority of the action occurs at the very end while its sequel places the action throughout making for a more entertaining viewing experience in that regard but at times it does feel as though these high jinks are only included in order to pad the film's runtime in lady and the the main villain is just a random rat and in that regard the sequel does a far better job with its antagonists while reggie is nothing more than a physical threat having little explanation for his hostility buster's motivations are clearly defined resulting in a villain who actually helps advance the plot and is fully developed he's not exactly terrifying but his pettiness arrogance and narcissism do help him come across like your run-of-the-mill douchebag which makes him incredibly unlikable but realistic my only issue is that he's so skeevy that i wish he'd had more of a comeuppance than the other dog simply abandoning him maybe he should have been captured by the dogcatcher instead of reggie speaking of which i kind of wish reggie had had some sort of arc that explained his aggression perhaps showing that his behavior was the result of unresolved trauma because of past mistreatment and giving him a redemption arc where he learns to love again but maybe that would have been too much for a kid's film although the sequel directly references its predecessor having angel and scamp reenact lady and tramp's date night the homage isn't as on the nose as some other films so it's still fun to watch especially when they're eating the spaghetti but i'll admit that the song is a lot worse than belinote and feels more appropriate for an older character who has experienced heartbreak before instead of a literal child one of the biggest problems i have with the film is its cast the first film was made nearly 50 years earlier so understandably they couldn't bring back any of the original voice actors but the people they did wind up casting don't feel like a good fit especially lady because no matter how hard jody benson tries to hide it you can tell that she's ariel like many of the sequels different people are used for singing and speaking parts but in this film they don't even attempt to cover it up angel's singing voice is much more mature than her speaking voice while scamp has the opposite problem with his singing voice being so juvenile that i can barely listen to any of his songs which i have no good explanation for because i do like roger bart as young hercules the only exception is buster who is voiced by chaz pelmentary and jess harnell who give the most cohesive performances in the entire movie the character also has the best song in the film although it does feel like it was initially written for oliver and company but got rejected return to neverland i'm kind of cheating by adding this film to the ranking since it was initially released in theaters instead of going direct to video but as a true sequel i felt that it deserved to be included in this ranking regardless come for me if you want decades after the events of the first film wendy darling is now grown up and married with two children jane and danny with their father off fighting in world war ii jane has become a serious and practical young girl who refuses to believe in peter pan one night captain hook arrives in london and kidnaps jane mistaking her for wendy and takes her back to neverland in the hopes of luring peter into a trap peter rescues jane and hopes that she can take care of the lost boys as wendy once did but jane refuses and gets so frustrated at their high jinks that she says she doesn't believe in fairies hurting tinkerbell using her anger to his advantage hook tricks jane into helping him find the lost boys hideout and the boys are captured jane finds the dying tinkerbell and helps her come back to life and after learning how to fly jane is able to rescue the boys and they're able to defeat the pirates peter helps her return home where he finally meets wendy again and jane is able to reconcile and reunite with all of her family i go into this in my deep dive of disney princesses so watch that video if you're interested in a more thorough explanation but a large aspect of the direct-to-video sequels was a conscious attempt to address criticisms that had been directed at disney over the years especially concerns about the company's supposed sexism jane is characterized as sensible opinionated and combative creating a stark contrast to wendy who is domesticated whimsical and passive in this sense jane is a more modern character and her transition from tense to relaxed allows her to have a greater development than wendy did in the original film not to mention that the character's maturity is vastly different than scamp melody or kiara allowing her to stand on her own when it comes to disney sequel children unfortunately i actually find her to be too uptight and unlikable even if it helps illustrate her eventual growth and combined with the rather annoying peter pan and cliche lost boys there's no one in the film you're actively interested in even captain hook while still just as much of a bumbling buffoon as he was in the original film lacks the unhinged quality that made him occasionally terrifying not to mention the fact that they've made him so dumb that it's entirely unrealistic for the rational and level-headed jane to fall for his trickery especially since she grew up hearing stories about his villainy and this is a tiny criticism but i can't not mention it why did they replace the ticking crocodile with the octopus they have the exact same quirks and personality so the change seems utterly useless although i'm not a huge fan of the characters my biggest problem with the film is actually the music which i think is the worst of any direct-to-video sequel so far while most of the other disney sequels attempt to replicate the style of songs present in the original film return to neverland instead features an assortment of 2000s pop ballads which is an odd choice for a film that is set in the 1940s something show tune-esque reminiscent of zig filled girl or meet me in saint louis would have been far more appropriate catchy and heartfelt not to mention that these anachronistic songs are often distracting ruining the tone of numerous scenes the one song that has a somewhat suitable style is so to be one of us which is meant to be the film's version of following the leader but it's absolutely horrible to listen to featuring incredibly off-key singing as well as repetitive and juvenile lyrics i don't believe for a moment that it would endear the lost boys to jane despite managing to make its way into theaters it isn't nearly as good as some of the other disney sequels and it's such an unremarkable return to neverland that i can completely understand why disney decided to pivot their attention to tinkerbell for future films cinderella 2 dreams come true with three different stories stitched together this feels less like a proper film and more like the company's attempt at salvaging the remains of a failed cinderella tv series although at least when compared to their last anthology belle's magical world back in 1998 it's a definite improvement taking place following the happily ever after from the 1950 film the first story details cinderella's life in the palace as a princess where she's put in charge of the royal banquet while the king and the prince are away unhappy with the castle's emphasis on traditions and rules cinderella takes things into her own hands and her newfangled ideas wind up impressing the king and help bring the kingdom together the second story follows jacques who is insecure about his size after moving into the palace and he wishes for the fairy godmother to turn him into a human but after a series of mishaps he eventually learns to accept himself as is the final story and perhaps the one that is best remembered follows cinderella's step-sister anastasia having taken cinderella's place as lady tremaine's punching bag anastasia is ridiculed by her family for her interest in a local baker and left feeling insecure about her appearance acting in the place of the fairy godmother cinderella helps anastasia get ready for a ball where she's finally able to gain the confidence to act on her feelings this film is notable for changing the personalities of certain characters specifically anastasia who is far more sensitive and humane than she was in the original film and cinderella who was more headstrong and progressive this was another instance of disney using these sequels to address public criticism with the stereotypical ugly stepsister now having her own relationship while repenting for her past misdeeds this change in personality is a definite improvement for the character as it allows anastasia to differentiate herself from drizella while also showing children that even someone who is evil can still change for the better a character arc that is still uncommon to see in a disney film the film also uses anastasia's story arc to emphasize that it's what's on the inside that counts but the character only succeeding in her romance after she grows kinder cinderella's personality change was obviously a product of the times with the character having more agency than she had in the original she challenges both gender roles and the class system which mirrored themes that were introduced during the company's popular renaissance period overall both of their individual storylines are interesting having important messages that don't feel too on the nose and anastasia's evolution is genuinely satisfying to watch while none of the characters sing there is music which like return in neverland is all over the place stylistically and is a poor fit for the tone and setting of the film some of the songs are blues inspired seeming like a better choice for the princess and the frog than cinderella while others are generically poppy with the updated version of bibbidi-bobbidi-boo literally sounding like ironically enough cinderella by the cheetah girls i also hate that this song references a magic mirror and a wishing well instead of a pumpkin carriage or a glass slipper snow white and cinderella are not the same the biggest problem i have with the film is its second storyline which was clearly designed around humor instead of heart the trope of an animal being turned into a human has been done to death and this film doesn't add anything new to the idea and i found myself wanting to fast forward through the entire sequence jack was entertaining in the original film but never enough to warrant this much attention and i think i would have much preferred a storyline focusing on the prince perhaps trying to buy a gift for cinderella and getting help from the mice to do so this also would have given disney the opportunity to showcase the prince's personality and expand upon his relationship with cinderella one of the biggest complaints people have about the original film another problem with the film's emphasis on jock is that despite being the intended comic relief he's never actually funny and his squeaky high-pitched voice is incredibly grating in large doses the hunchback of notre dame too coming in at under an hour without credits this is one of the shortest disney sequels which i couldn't be more grateful for as it's also one of the worst taking place six years after the events of the original film phoebus and esmeralda are now married with a young son and quasimodo has finally been accepted by the townspeople as everyone prepares for the jour d'amour a day dedicated to love a group of criminals disguised as a circus troop enter the town intending to steal one of the valuable bells from notre dame one of the group's members madeleine is sent to investigate the cathedral when she encounters quasimodo and although the two initially get on quite well when she finally sees his face she's so shocked and frightened that she runs away the leader of the group sarosh forces her to gain quasimodo's trust and while hesitant at first she slowly discovers quasimodo's kind-hearted and gentle nature and the two go on a date around paris with both realizing they've fallen in love meanwhile phoebus has been investigating a string of robberies around the city which leads him to suspect the circus but his concerns are brushed aside by esmeralda who believes that he is being prejudiced against them while quasimodo is distracted one evening the circus members are able to steal the bell and he is left heartbroken by madeleine's betrayal hoping to redeem herself madeleine helps phoebus esmeralda and quasimodo find ceruse who is taken esmerelda's child hostage and they're able to rescue the boy arrest the criminals and retrieve the bell with this le jour d'amore is able to proceed and the film ends with the different couples proclaiming their love for one another the hunchback of notre dame is one of my favorite disney movies which makes the sequel's severe decline in quality all the more disappointing their direct to video projects have never been known for their animation after all the entire point was to turn an easy profit but the hunchback of notre dame 2 is distractingly bad with the art style actually looking so dated that it resembles the return of jafar more than it does return to neverland also i'm mad that esmeralda didn't get a different outfit like come on it's been six years surely she's bought a new dress despite bringing back much of the original voice cast including demi moore everyone clearly phoned in their performances to the extent that i literally had to look up if they changed actors because everyone sounded so different this laziness is especially noticeable during the mundane musical numbers which are performed so poorly and have such uninspired lyrics that it's laughable unsurprisingly i can't stand madeleine's modern love ballad which isn't a dig at jennifer love hewitt's voice i just think the song sticks out like a sore thumb in the film's 1400 setting what happened to the chilling yet beautiful liturgical inspired music from the original film as for the plot i'm happy that quasimodo finally found someone who loves him but i find the romance itself rushed and madeleine a boring love interest especially when compared to the original films esmerelda who is spunky yet sensitive and madeleine's traitorous storyline is one we've seen on multiple other occasions characters like phoebus esmeralda and quasimodo aren't just less dynamic versions of themselves but they're outright annoying with only their worst character traits being amplified the film also has an incredibly bizarre romantic subplot involving one of the gargoyles and esmeralda's goat which was not at all necessary to include and i shudder to think of the implications 101 dalmatians 2 patches london adventure yet another sequel where a child is now the protagonist the film begins with the radcliffe family preparing to move from their flat in london to their dalmatian plantation in the countryside patch one of the 99 puppies is accidentally left behind during this move but decides to make the most of the situation by auditioning for his favorite tv show the thunderbolt adventure hour although he fails to make it onto the show patch meets thunderbolt in real life who is running around london in the hopes of performing a true act of heroism to prove that he's still got it meanwhile carella deville has once again restarted her hunt for the dalmatians and bails her former henchmen out of prison who dog nap the remaining puppies like the original film the puppies use the twilight bark to send a distress signal which patch and thunderbolt here and the duo set out to rescue them they're both captured by cruella but they're able to escape setting the other dogs free in the process cruella takes chase after the puppies but fails to capture them once again the film ends with thunderbolt returning to his show with patch as his new sidekick cruella winds up in a mental institution and her henchmen are fully reformed compared to most of disney's direct-to-video sequels patch's london adventure received relatively positive reviews from critics something i don't agree with as the film feels incredibly unimaginative while i found myself entertained by corella's hijinks patch's storyline simply isn't interesting to me his desire to be a hero is a rather shallow motive compared to other sequel protagonists and his personality is so generic that he isn't a very captivating character not to mention that his youth adds absolutely nothing to the story besides being a reason for his naivete lacking any of the relatable coming-of-age elements that jane chiara scamp and melody had to offer as fellow children it's incredibly obvious that the film was created with only children in mind focusing more on gags and substance and lacking any depth that would make an older audience remotely interested in it which results in an occasionally funny but mostly mundane viewing experience now before you comment something like what were you expecting from a children's film i want to say that disney's films are not made just for kids they're for the entire family which is why many of their films are still enjoyable to watch even as an adult patch's london adventure is no such movie i know it's unfair to compare direct to video movie to a theatrical release but 2102 dalmatian starring glenn close has a far superior premise even though both serve as sequels to the same story the adventure-ish direction they wound up going with for patch's london adventure was clearly intended to set it apart from the live-action film but i think they'd have been better off using it as a source of inspiration especially considering how inferior this film wound up being it's still an improvement from the hunchback of notre dame 2 but the bar was so low with that film that we really shouldn't be impressed atlantis milo's return the remains of an unfinished tv series the film follows and now married milo and keita on three different adventures outside of atlantis in the first segment the couple are told of a mysterious creature that is causing trouble in norway which they believe to be an atlantean war machine but it's eventually revealed to be a kraken they discover that the kraken has made a deal with the town's leader for immortality in exchange for souls but the group blows it up the next mystery takes place in arizona where a group of coyote spirits are causing trouble milo and his friends are sabotaged by a greedy shop owner who attempts to steal a bunch of atlantean artifacts but they're saved by the coyote spirits in the final segment the group attempts to recover an atlantean spear which was stolen by a man who went mad and believes himself to be odin reincarnated after tracking him down in the nordic mountains keita is captured with odin believing her to be his long-lost daughter brunelda he hopes to destroy the world with his lava and ice beasts but he's stopped by milo and his friends with keita managing to vanquish the beasts herself after all of these adventures kita decides that the atlantean crystals should be shared with mankind and she lifts the city above water reuniting their two worlds for the first time in 8 000 years part of what made the first film so interesting was the city of atlantis which was totally unlike any other setting in a disney movie so i do think it's a shame that the film decided to focus on the surface instead but the unique premise makes this departure somewhat worth it with the film examining the effect of atlantis's technology on the rest of the world the choice to venture outside of atlantis opens the door to an interesting collection of villains and entertaining situations and i like that they included interesting myths and legends from a variety of cultures like most anthologies the pacing is all over the place but by having the same format for each individual segment they're at least somewhat tied together although i will say that the transition from one story to the next is rough the film primarily focuses on keita specifically her worries about the future of atlantis as well as her fascination with the outside world and it makes sense to go in this direction considering milo's journey was already wrapped up in the original film however it is sorely lacking in enough emotion and heart to make us invested in keita's story arc i'd also say that her decision to join the two worlds was completely misguided maybe it's the cynic in me but that level of power would be absolutely abused by humanity something the first film was well aware of and considering each of this film's segments features a villainous human i don't see why keita would bother trusting them i think it would have been far better to have the character decide to keep atlantis hidden even if it isn't as tyrion ending as most disney sequels a big problem i have with the film is its characterization of milo who is turned into a totally different person now flirty outspoken and fairly confident he comes across as a generic male protagonist and i find him to be significantly less likable than he was in the first film however the side characters are still a highlight with the film staying true to their original personalities which allows their interpersonal relationships to shine i especially love audrey and vinnie who are two of the most entertaining characters in the film i don't really have anything else to say about it besides the animation looking terrible which is usually the case for sequels that were made from scrap tv shows the jungle book 2. mowgli now resides in the man village having been adopted by the village leader who is the father of shanti from the first film and ranjan despite enjoying aspects of his new life mowgli still finds himself drawn to the excitement of the jungle which puts him at odds with shanti and her father meanwhile sher khan has returned vowing to get revenge on mowgli which baloo uses as an excuse to enter the man village and take mowgli back to the jungle shanti and ranjan see this happening and sneak into the jungle to rescue mowgli believing he's been kidnapped against his will although mowgli initially enjoys his time in the jungle he becomes upset when the other animals mock the man village and he decides to find shanti and ranjon and return home mowgli attempts to make amends with his human friends but they are cornered by sher khan who chases them towards a lake of lava where he's eventually trapped with the tiger thwarted baloo decides to take the children back to the man village where mowgli is able to reconcile with the village leader who in turn apologizes for trying to force mowgli to be someone he isn't like returned to neverland this film was also released in theaters although it was originally conceived for the home video market and the two films share many similarities when it comes to their art style tone and characters but i think the jungle book 2 is far superior sure shanti is essentially jane but her character isn't as big a stick in the mud the film does a great job of depicting a realistic relationship between an older sister and younger brother with shanti doting on ranjan at times and being annoyed by him at others which makes her more relatable and likable i'm usually not a big fan of the super young side character who's meant to make you go aw but ranjan actually has his own personality being energetic stubborn and brave which creates an interesting dynamic to shanti's more reserved and responsible personality i also think that the film handled her relationship with mowgli well there's hints that they might have a crush on one another but it's subtle and doesn't drive the story which is a huge improvement for shanti's character in comparison to the original film where she's simply a piece of eye candy who lures mowgli into the human village i also think that the film's depiction of baloo is really well done falling in line with his original characterization as an overprotective pseudo-parent while still giving him the chance to grow unlike most disney sequel villains share khan actually manages to be more terrifying in this film than he was in the original in the first film he was rather calm and collected using the other animal's fear of him to rule over the jungle without having to resort to violence which results in him underestimating mowgli and treating him like a plaything having lost the other animal's respect because of his humiliating defeat cher khan takes a darker turn in the sequel being more openly aggressive and volatile than he'd once been having tony jay who was also claude frollo voice the character certainly helps build the terror as well the film actually has some of the strongest voice performances for a direct-to-video sequel with haley joel osment yes the kid from the sixth sense giving mowgli some much needed heart that makes him feel less bratty than his earlier counterpart mae whitman who would go on to voice tinkerbell did a great job expressing the nuances of shanti's character and john goodman was an utterly inspired choice for blue john rice davies makes a return to the disney sequel universe as the village leader but it's far more believable than his turn as kasim in aladdin and the king of thieves while there's a good amount of songs from the original film that reappear there are a few new editions that i found myself enjoying i know i've complained about the use of modern music and some of the other sequels but this anachronistic choice totally works for the jungle book too the songs in the 1967 film were inspired by popular music styles at the time period with the bare necessities having jazz influences while that's what friends are for was an ode to barbershop quartets so it makes sense to go a similar direction in this film go listen to jungle rhythm and try to tell me it isn't a bop fun fact there were actually plans for a third jungle book film it would have followed baloo and share khan after being captured and sold to a circus with mowgli shanti ranjan and bagheera deciding to save them both and this would have eventually led to share khan having a redemption arc that actually sounds like a pretty interesting premise so it's a shame that the project never wound up coming to fruition stitch the movie serving as a backdoor pilot for lilo and stitch the series the film introduces the villain dr hamsterville who hires gantu to capture jumba who he interrogates and holds for ransom in compliance pleaklee hands over the 625 experiments that were created before stitch not realizing that lilo and stitch had already released one of them stitch lilo and experiment 221 aka sparky stowaway enhance reveal spaceship and swipe the container with the rest of the experiments accidentally dropping them all over hawaii after arresting hamsterville the grand councilwoman intends to destroy the experiments but lilo convinces her to let them find and rehabilitate them setting the stage for the events that take place in the tv show more of an action-adventure story than anything else stitch's primary conflict in the film is his struggle to fit in but this is quickly resolved when he discovers the existence of the other experiments who he quickly decides are his cousins this is pretty derivative of the first film but comes across as far more forced and shallow which is a shame because there was definitely potential considering this storyline paved the way for the excellent tv series i'm not going to complain too much but i do think it would have been more interesting to explore stitch's relationship with other humans instead of essentially saying that he can only be understood by other aliens plus i felt as though nani and david were seriously underutilized when it might have been interesting to see these two characters who are incredibly normal and human having to deal with extraterrestrial drama new characters like dr hamsterville and experiment 625 were obviously created to appeal to children especially with their merchandising potential but their personalities are different enough from the main characters that they don't come across as totally unnecessary although i will admit that i found myself unable to take hamster veal seriously as a villain which was also the case when i watched the tv series as a child i don't think it's the strongest lilo and stitch sequel but it does exactly what it sets out to do which is piqued the audience's interest in the show and it definitely worked the lion king one and a half like all of the lion king ip inspiration is once again taken from a play in this instance tom stoppards rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead an absurdist comedy that follows two minor characters from william shakespeare's hamlet the play which inspired the original movie taking notes from the timon and pumbaa tv show that aired between 1995 and 1999 the movie serves as the origin story of the legendary meerkat warthog duo and reimagines the original film from their point of view timon starts off the film living in a meerkat colony outside of the pride lands where he's treated as an outcast for constantly screwing things up longing for a better life he leaves the colony and meets rafiki who teaches him about the concept of hakuna matata prompting timon to search for his own paradise on his journey he meets pumbaa and the two arrive at pride rock during simba's birth the first of many occasions where they inadvertently witness and influence events from the original film there are no significant differences between the plot of these two films until they return to pride rock with simba with timon's family joining them in the battle against scar and the hyenas and the film ends with timon being praised as a hero by the rest of the meerkats a story within a story the retelling is framed as a film that timon and pumbaa are watching with the characters interjecting at different moments while the gimmick is initially interesting and enjoyable as the film goes on it gets irritating with the pauses and commentary ruining the pacing of the film and lessening the emotional weight of multiple scenes by relying heavily on slapstick comedy and contemporary humor the film comes across as far more childish than any of the other lion king films and as such it isn't as enjoyable to watch as an adult because the story takes place during the same period of time as the 1994 film timon and pumbaa's characterization is identical but as the protagonists their growth is slightly more apparent and their friendship is given more time to develop as they did in the original film timon and pumbaa get into various silly hijinks and having these actions directly lead to events from the first film is a clever way of paying homage without coming across as blatant copying a problem i had with the first sequel despite it featuring a new storyline and characters however this also results in the creation of several plot holes which is more common than you'd think in these direct-to-video projects because the film is simply rehashing the original events through a comedic lens it's hard to become invested in the story after all you already know everything that's about to happen but at least it's somewhat entertaining as you can probably tell i'm not the biggest fan of timon and pumbaa and because they're now the main characters the premise of the film isn't appealing to me right from the get-go and at no point did the creation of this film ever feel justified mulan 2 mulan is one of my favorite disney princesses so i have a soft spot for this movie which puts me in the minority as the popular opinion seems to be that it's one of disney's worst sequels with a remarkable zero percent on rotten tomatoes taking place a month after the events of the first film mushu's status as a guardian spirit has been restored something that is threatened when he discovers that if mulan and shang get married his family guardians would become hers this leads to mushu hatching a plot to break them up and joins them on their journey to protect the emperor's daughters who are being sent to the kingdom of qigong to marry and forge an alliance mulan and shang enlist the help of yao ling and chiang po from the first film who quickly begin to develop feelings for the princesses who reciprocate with mushu sabotaging them mulan and shank's relationship eventually becomes strained with the two finding themselves at odds with one another because of their difference in opinion especially mulan's opposition to the princess's arranged marriage this culminates in the two breaking up part way through the journey and before mulan can make up with shang they're attacked by a group of bandits resulting in chang falling off a bridge to his presumed death heartbroken mulan heads to kikom on her own and offers herself in marriage hoping to solidify the alliance between their two countries without having to sacrifice the princesses shang reappears having survived the fall and interrupts the wedding earning the wrath of ki gong's king in order to save them mushu pretends to be the great golden dragon of unity and forces the king to accept the treaty regardless of the marriages the film ends with mulan and shang marrying with shang combining their family temples allowing mushu to keep his job most criticisms of the film are directed at mulan shang and mushu and we'll talk about the latter first mushu is definitely more annoying in this film transitioning from a friend to a foe but i don't think that his actions are that out of character considering he's already shown himself to be a self-serving coward yes it's a bit over the top at times but i think it works in the context of the film and even though he's no longer voiced by eddie murphy i don't think it's as much of a downgrade as the recasting and the return of jafar which is likely because voice actor mark mosley had served as a double for eddie murphy on multiple occasions as for mulan and shang i don't think the film did them a disservice by giving their romance some obstacles let's not forget that for the majority of the first film mulan was pretending to be someone else and considering this takes place only a month after that there's a lot for them to learn about each other and it's inevitable that they won't always agree yes some of these differences and arguments fall victim to age-old gender stereotypes but overall i thought these complexities were a great way to show kids that relationships can be hard work and that the disney happily ever after message isn't always a reality i do think they're a little too mean to one another at certain points and their issues are resolved a little too easily but overall it works putting strain on their relationship also makes the moment where shang falls off the bridge all the more heartbreaking if this sort of relationship progression had been presented with any other early disney princess who also didn't know their prince very well i don't think people would have been upset about it one of the strongest additions to the film are the three princesses who have a believable dynamic with each other and unique personalities that make them fun to watch not to mention that with lucy lou sandra oh and lauren tom voicing them they're incredibly charming and full of life i also think their respective designs are cute sure color coordinated trios were a mainstay of the 2000s but with their interesting hairstyles and varied heights they're still distinctive and i kind of feel like it'd be a fun halloween costume with only three songs it's less musical than some of the other disney direct to video sequels but this is an obvious case of quality over quantity with each of the songs being total bangers lesson number one is just as much fun to listen to as an adult as it was as a child and maybe this is just because i've had to deal with so much quirky not like other girls media in recent years but i really appreciate i want to be like other girls which is a girl power bop that is as entertaining as it is empowering tarzan ii disney's first mid qual since belle's magical world the film follows tarzan and his youth struggling with his treatment as an outsider by the other gorillas as well as his fear of the fabled monster zugor in his attempts to prove that he's just as fast and strong as the others he unintentionally causes mayhem which further upsets the adult gorillas after an accident where he's presumed dead tarzan runs away where he comes across a family of gorillas who antagonize him he then meets an irritable old gorilla who has been pretending to be the monster zugor to keep others out of his territory after finding out that he's still alive tarzan's mother and his friends set out to find him each coming in contact with the family of aggressive gorillas but tarzan is able to save them with his human abilities having accepted what makes him unique he finally returns home proud of what he's accomplished tarzan was never my favorite disney movie so this film had the odds stacked against it from the very beginning the events that occur in the film are a carbon copy of the lion king with tarzan pretending to be dead out of guilt and running away just to live with a quirky individual in the jungle the original film details tarzan's struggle with his identity and his desire for acceptance issues that are completely watered down in this film many mid quills have difficulty developing tension because the audience already knows the character's outcome and this film is no exception with all the conflict being resolved so quickly we barely have time to comprehend what's happening although slapstick disney duos aren't my favorite i do prefer turk and tantor to timon and pumbaa but only because their voices are so endearing and i actually think tantor has some funny lines that are pretty quotable like many disney sequels the new additions to the story are pretty unlikable and one-dimensional and the villains are so goofy and annoying that they don't come across as formidable but that doesn't negate the fact that their relatively happy ending is absolutely infuriating to watch mama gunda and her annoying children deserved an ass whooping instead of providing a lackluster glimpse into tarzan's childhood i would have much preferred if disney had focused on tarzan's relationship with jane and their respective perspectives of the outside world it's those characters that we're actually familiar with and attached to an interesting direction might have been introducing a new group of explorers who threaten their way of life which yes is a bit derivative of the original film but that still would have been better than what we wound up getting the only good thing about this film is that they got phil collins to write new music for it that man does not need to go as hard as he does but i appreciate it lilo and stitch two stitch has a glitch taking place before the events and stitch the movie lilo's halal announces that they will be participating in their local mayday festival and inspired by a story about her deceased mother lilo sets out to win the competition meanwhile stitch begins acting out which they discover as a glitch in his programming which will cause him to revert back to his old destructive self and eventually kill him lilo is so focused on the competition that she fails to notice stitch's glitch and his volatile behavior begins to affect their friendship after accidentally hurting lilo stitch runs away believing that he's too dangerous to remain on earth lilo leaves her competition midway through and chases after him but his injuries are too severe and stitch dies heartbroken lilo tells stitch that she will always love him and he's her family and with the power of her love she's able to bring him back to life unlike the sequel before it the film goes back to the franchise's roots focusing on the characters we already know and love instead of introducing gimmicky new aliens stitch has a glitch manages to successfully capture the heart and tone of the original film while having a storyline that is still unique it perhaps isn't as clever when it comes to the humor with sillier gags that often come across as juvenile but it's still an entertaining watch at any age i especially like how the film gives nani more attention highlighting the highs and lows of her relationship with her unconventional family the scene where stitch dies is actually pretty heartbreaking especially considering the strain on his relationship with lilo throughout the film and i actually found myself breathing a sigh of relief when he woke back up like the original film stitch has a glitch is full of songs often associated with hawaii and it makes for one of the best soundtracks in any of the disney sequels but that's a somewhat unfair comparison as the film isn't confined by the traditional musical format either way i'd highly recommend listening to it kronk's new groove instead of focusing on cuzco the sequel follows fan favorite cronk who now works as a chef in the restaurant from the first film concerned about an upcoming visit from his disapproving father cronk recounts various stories from his past including being manipulated by isma to scam a group of elderly people as well as his stint as a camp counselor where he fell in love with a rival with the support of the friends he'd met over the years he's eventually able to gain the approval of his father and reunite with his lost love much like the original film kronk's new groove is loaded with adult humor that flies over its young audience's heads but these jokes aren't particularly creative regularly appearing in other media from the 2000s and as a result they eventually get to a point where they're more exasperating than they are entertaining it's very obvious that the film prioritized gags more than it did at storyline which can only get you so far they were clearly trying to go for a meta shrekish type of humor but it consistently falls flat cronk is a quintessential himbo with his naivete being balanced out by his kindness but that doesn't necessarily make him an interesting protagonist especially since the character doesn't have any emotional growth over the course of the story something that is a crucial aspect of any hero's journey overall it seemed like a mistake to dedicate an entire film to the character when the main reason he was popular to begin with was because we saw him in small doses and he served as comic relief i personally think a film about ysma trying to make repeated plays for power and constantly failing would have been far better especially since it could have made for an interesting redemption arc for the character plus i hate that she's barely in this film which is a complete and utter waste of ertha kitt's talent bambi 2. coming out 64 years after the original film bambi 2 is yet another mid-call taking place after the death of bambi's mother and before he returns as a young buck although he initially wants to pass off the duty to a random doe bambi's father the great prince of the forest eventually takes him in promising to care for him until the spring the two are a bit awkward around one another initially with the great prince struggling with the unfamiliar and difficult job of being a parent bambi reunites with his friends thumper flower and felline and meets ronno with the latter attempting to impress feleen with stories of man bambi gets into a fight with ronno and is able to impress the great prince with his bravery bringing the two closer together but they soon have a misunderstanding with the great prince concluding that he wasn't meant to raise bambi on his way to his new home he gets into another fight with ronno accidentally setting off one of man's traps and drawing his hunting dogs who bambi and his friends have to fight off the film ends with bambi and his father reconciling while ronno swears revenge like the lady in the sequel this film follows the relationship between a father and a son but unlike scamp bambi is looking for a way to get his father's approval it's actually a pretty touching tale of a father and a son who are learning how to communicate with each other but the pacing is rather slow the story is predictable and the conflict near non-existent one of the film's most bizarre editions are the squabbles between bambi and rono a character who was in the original film for less than two minutes making me wonder why he's given so much attention in the mid-call besides rono having no clear motivation for why he's such an at such a young age he and bambi's frequent quarrels are rather dull compared to bambi's struggles with his father and the presence of hunters plus their interactions are so cringy that i found myself actively wanting to fast forward i know it's been done over and over again but i would have preferred a story about bambi and felline's kids it's a formula many disney sequels employ but if it ain't broke why fix it disney's direct to video sequels aren't known for their music but something about bambi 2 soundtrack upsets me more than most the first movie has one of the most beautiful scores in disney history with the pastoral symphony representing the voice of nature but the music in the sequel basically sounds like baby shark in comparison leroy and stitch the last film in the lilo and stitch franchise this served as the finale to the tv show with jumba plikley and stitch being incentivized to leave earth after finding all of the escaped experiments the series primary villain dr hamsterville returns creating an evil clone of stitch named leroy who's able to capture stitch and the others who is then sent to earth to find the other experiments hamsterville manages to take over the galaxy and imprisons lilo and stitch who are released by gantu after he's fired by hamsterville the group heads back to earth where they find leroy who has managed to gather up all of the experiments there is then a battle between the experiments and an army of leroy clones who quickly gained the upper hand but before they're defeated jumbo remembers leroy's shutdown command which stitch activates by singing alohao with his plan failed hamsterville is captured and sent back to prison while all the other aliens decide to stay on earth unlike most direct-to-video sequels where you only needed to be familiar with the original film to understand what was happening your enjoyment of leroy and stitch will probably be dependent on how well you know the tv series if you're like me and haven't watched that in the better part of two decades then most of the film's cameos and references will fall flat because the film focuses on new characters and gimmicky aliens it doesn't have the emotional weight of the original film or stitch has a glitch and because we aren't as attached to these characters we're less concerned about their role in the story i also have issues with jumba plikley and stitch having no reservations about returning to space once they've captured the experiments at this point they'd all been living as a family in hawaii for three or four years i can't believe they'd be willing to abandon everyone so easily especially stitch who is completely obsessed with lilo i also don't find the story as interesting as the first sequel yes it's supposed to serve as a finale but it feels too much like an episode of tv brother bear 2. picking up several months after the events of the first film kenai and koda have just woken from hibernation and set out on a journey to get the first berries of the season while on their journey kenai sees multiple visions of his childhood friend nida who he'd given an amulet to years earlier now grown up nida is about to be married but on the day of the wedding the spirits appear and create a fissure between the bride and groom which nida takes to be a sign taking the advice of a shaman nida decides to find kenai and travel with him to the place he gave her the amulet and burn it severing their tie to one another the shaman assists her on this quest by granting nida the ability to communicate with animals when she first meets kenai he refuses to help her but after being pressured by both nida and koda he reluctantly accepts and the two rekindle their friendship once they burn the amulet nida loses her ability to communicate with the animals and heads back to the village kota realizes that kenai is in love with nida and decides to go to the village to find her not realizing that the villagers will kill him if he's discovered kenai runs after him and fights his way into the village with nita defending him and professing her own love the spirits offer to change kenai back into a human but he declines refusing to abandon koda but nida decides to transform into a bear herself and the trio live happily together as a family coda and kenai's brotherly relationship is a nice change of pace from the usual parent-child dynamic in disney sequels with their trust love and respect for each other still being a rarity between male characters in the world of disney because the film holds back on introducing too many new characters nida is able to shine and you wind up actively rooting for her which is a definite improvement from madeleine the last new love interest that was introduced the themes and message of this film are consistent with the first film immediately making it feel more thought out than some of the other sequels and there's a good balance between comedy action and heart the only issue i have is that each individual sequence is removed from the other feeling more like a bunch of random events instead of a cohesive journey which makes the pacing a touch inconsistent although i don't enjoy the folksy songs they're at least consistent with the music style from the original film i do think they would have been better if phil collins had written them though the fox and the hound too taking place during copper and todd's childhood the pair of friends are as close as ever with todd reassuring copper during his frequent insecure moments after a failed hunting attempt copper is punished by his owner but he's freed by todd who takes him to the local fair there they meet a group of singing stray dogs who copper is immediately taken with and after their lead singer dixie walks off in frustration he takes to the stage and sings along with them when the performance goes well they invite copper to join the band permanently enamored by his new friends he forgets about todd who begins to feel abandoned and during this moment of weakness dixie convinces him to help her get copper kicked out of the band after the plan proved successful the band breaks up and copper ends his friendship with todd but out of guilt dixie reveals that it was actually her fault after reconciling todd and copper are able to reunite the band and get them a record deal let me just get this out of the way first i do not like the film storyline a group of dogs who want to get a record deal is not entertaining especially when you think about what they'd actually sound like because the film involves a band it's no surprise that it has the most original songs out of any disney sequel and although their country influence makes sense for the setting i do not like the songs themselves they're cheesy and childish and so unrelated to the story that it's painfully obvious that they were crammed into the film in order to pad the run time considering how bittersweet the original film is i do appreciate that we got to spend more time with todd and copper during their happier days it's just a pity that the story is so shallow especially in comparison to the original film which manages to address prejudice and societal pressure the film utterly fails at developing todd and copper's friendship and their relationship is barely put to the test with only one being mad at the other at a time and there's no character growth on either end leaving them in the exact same place where they started if the original film had depicted their friendship in this manner i wouldn't have been at all surprised by their falling out honestly it would have been inevitable despite copper and todd being the characters we're most familiar with dixie and cash are way more interesting with their hot and cold relationship serving as a good source of comedy and drama their sequences together are without a doubt the best in the film so at least in that regard the film plays it smart by focusing on them so heavily not to mention that with reba mcintyre and patrick swayze voicing them they act circles around everyone else cinderella 3 a twist in time taking place a year after cinderella's marriage to the prince lady tremaine seeks revenge on cinderella for taking her happy ending now forced to do the housework anastasia discovers the fairy godmother's magic wand accidentally turning her into stone and lady tremaine uses the wand to rewind time to the fateful day cinderella tried on the glass slipper she uses her newfound magical powers to help anastasia fit the shoe and force the prince to forget about cinderella allowing the engagement to move forward cinderella finds out about lady tremaine's trickery and attempts to steal the wand back but is captured and set to be exiled from the kingdom realizing that he isn't in love with anastasia the prince begins to remember cinderella and he chases after her professing his love and asking her to be his bride the two return to the palace and explain the situation to the king who orders for cinderella's step family's arrest but they escape before the wedding lady tremaine returns using magic to transform anastasia into cinderella and switching their places feeling guilty over her part in the treachery anastasia refuses to proceed with the wedding hoping to find her own true love instead of stealing someone else's in response lady tremaine attempts to attack the girls but the prince uses his sword to deflect the spell turning lady tremaine and drizella into toads cinderella and anastasia reconcile and work together to restore the fairy godmother who offers to return them to their original timeline but she decides against it after seeing how cinderella and the prince's relationship has grown stronger drizella and lady tremaine are eventually restored to their human forms where they're promptly thrown in the dungeon while anastasia moves into the palace reuniting with the baker from the previous sequel unlike most of disney's direct-to-video sequels cinderella 3 received generally positive reviews from critics upon its release with praise being directed towards the animation characters and storyline i was a bit too old for this film when it originally came out so my first time watching it was actually in preparation for this video and it definitely lived up to the hype there isn't much to say about the film's plot besides the fact that it's genius not only is it creative for a disney sequel in general but it handles time travel and paradoxes way better than some actual sci-fi films the characters have the greatest glow up of any of the sequels with anastasia drizella lady tremaine cinderella the prince and the king all having more developed personalities in the original film although the plot relies on retconing certain events that happened in previous films it doesn't change everything with anastasia maintaining the more sympathetic and sensitive character traits that were introduced in the 2002 sequel both cinderella and the prince's personalities are adjusted to appeal to modern audiences with cinderella having a greater impact on the events of the film and the prince serving as a charming comic relief while still being a dashing hero the success of the film depends on the believability of their relationship and the film does a much better job of depicting their romance than previous iterations and because of this chemistry we root for them from the very start lady tremaine is still a great villain with the film staying true to her original characterization but providing more instances where her greed and selfishness can present themselves i think the way that she treats anastasia in both this film and dreams come true is a perfect evolution of her character after all she doesn't actually care about her daughters and without cinderella to take the brunt of her abuse she needs to direct that negative energy somewhere i also think that our characterization serves as an interesting foil to the king who is supportive kind-hearted and a hopeless romantic and the influence of their different parenting styles is apparent in how their children behave the film's one week link is perhaps the music which isn't necessarily bad just unmemorable except for at the ball which is awful it's a bizarre exposition dump slash recap that's sung by jacques and gus and in my opinion the only movie that can get away with an entire song in this squeaky high-pitched voice is alvin and the chipmunks the little mermaid ariel's beginning taking place before the events in the 1989 film the movie begins by showing the loving relationship between king triden and his wife queen athena and how their happiness has led to the kingdom of atlantica becoming a place of joy and music following her death by a group of pirates king triton falls into a deep depression banning music from the kingdom and distancing himself from his daughters as teenagers ariel and her sisters have a strict routine that is carried out by their governess marina del rey who is tired of the role and wants to take sebastian's job as triton's attache ariel is frustrated with their current lifestyle and often gets into arguments with king triton something that causes tension between her and the rest of her family one day she discovers a secret music club who are initially wary of her as the king's daughter but she's able to convince them of her good intentions when she explains her love of music despite having promised to keep the club a secret she reveals it to her sisters who join her the following night their suspicious behavior alerts marina who reports their activities to their father who promptly destroys the club the club-goers including sebastian and flounder are sent to prison while the girls are confined to the palace for their disobedience when they all escape marina sends her electric eels after them and during the fight ariel is injured which triton blames himself for and when she awakens he apologizes for his selfishness and restores music to atlantica the film ends with marina in prison while sebastian is appointed the official court composer the plot is incredibly similar to that of the original film keeping ariel's complicated relationship with her father but replacing her fascination with the human world with music essentially making the film footloose underwater since his wife died at the hands of humans that does help explain king triton's future disdain for them but the film doesn't bother to explore this having him take out his anger on music instead of the outside world which makes absolutely no sense besides its events directly contradicting the prequel tv series the film's characterization is also at odds with the original film inadvertently making the future events that take place less plausible for instance ariel's only fascination seems to be music having absolutely no interest in humans whereas in the original film it seems like she's been curious about them for years not to mention that by making music and singing so important to her it makes the fact that she ditched the concert and traded her voice in the original film super out of character flounder is more of a rebel in this film introducing ariel to the underground music scene and supporting her rebellion of triton's rules and is slightly awkward instead of outright cowardly this mischaracterization is the case for sebastian as well who in the original film is terrified of disappointing triton and finds it near impossible to lie to him but in this film he's literally breaking the law left and right while the story itself is rather uninspired it had undeniable potential considering they took the time to develop aerial sisters giving them unique personalities without it coming across as random i feel like a film focused on them would have been far more interesting perhaps they could have explored their own independence after being inspired by ariel's time on land finding their own versions of happily ever after which could have included becoming next in line for the throne finding their own romance or leaving atlantica themselves despite having never voiced an animated character before sally field does an excellent job as the villainous marina del rey and her scenes are by far the best in the entire film compared to ursula who wants to rule the entire kingdom and morgana who wants to one-up her dead sister marina's motivations are kinda lame with her deepest desire being a job as the king's glorified secretary so she isn't really intimidating but she is fun and i do respect her level of commitment being much more willing to murder than most villains now that we've gone through all the disney direct-to-video sequels prequels and mid-calls it's time to get into the rankings starting with the worst and ending with the best the hunchback of notre dame 2. i would literally pay to have this movie white from my brain eternal sunshine of the spotless mind style that's how bad it is the animation is horrible the cast sounds bored the music is dreadful and the story is dull at best do not watch this beauty and the beast belle's magical world if i'm being honest this is just as bad as the hunchback of notre dame 2. the only reason it's getting a higher ranking is because the music is slightly more tolerable if i were belle and the characters treated me like this i would have let gaston burn the castle down kronk's new groove this is also in bad territory but it isn't as frustrating to watch as the other two it's just boring thank god this was disney's last anthology sequel because that format was not good tarzan 2. the only good thing this film has to offer is phil collins and baby tantor otherwise it's a total snoozefest the fox and the hound too this movie literally had me rooting for todd and copper to never speak to one another again which is a huge problem for a film that is about friendship but at least it had reba bambi2 this is one of those films that you could turn on in the background because nothing important happens the entire time sure the kid characters are cute but that isn't enough to make me interested in the film also i hate rono and i don't understand why they decided to give him an origin story the only positive thing i can say about it is that bambi and his father's relationship was somewhat touching 101 dalmatians 2 patches london adventure although i loved seeing corella deville again she isn't able to save this lackluster film and patch makes for an incredibly dull protagonist atlantis milo's return if you can get over how bad the animation looks the individual stories are actually pretty interesting and i enjoyed seeing the exploration of legends other than atlantis i do wish the film had been titled keita's return considering she's the main character not milo but it is what it is leroy and stitch it's the weakest out of all of the lilo and stitch sequels by far something i attribute to the fact that it's technically the finale of the tv show and it prioritized that audience instead of fans of the original film because it focuses on action instead of emotion i didn't find myself very interested in the characters which is a shame because that's one of the best parts of the original film return to neverland you might think i'm being harsh on this film but it's really that disappointing the premise definitely had potential especially with the introduction of a grown-up wendy but it feels like every other element of the film was half-assed i genuinely can't believe that this was the project disney decided to release in theaters the return of jafar the animation isn't the best but this film is still watchable and although it isn't something i enjoyed all that much i could definitely see why some people are fans of it fleshing out iago's personality definitely works in the context of the film but their focus on him results in every other character being left by the wayside and i hate how much of a downgrade jafar's villainy is also it doesn't have robin williams in it so boo the lion king one and a half like i said before i'm not a big fan of timon and pumbaa but at least the music is good even if that's only because it's ripped straight out of the original movie but there are occasional moments that are pretty funny stitch the movie although it's a fun introduction to the tv series it lacks the heart that made the original film so amazing thereby making me feel less invested in the story itself aladdin and the king of thieves introducing a member of aladdin's family was an interesting idea but it was poorly executed with kasim being too boring of a character to have such a prominent role the little mermaid ariel's beginning i don't understand why they made this a prequel when there was already a successful and superior tv series about the very same time period i do love marina del rey though cinderella 2 dreams come true i don't like anthological films but this one works better than most the only problem is that one story is great one is okay and one is bad resulting in an average at best viewing experience i will applaud the film for its new characterization of anastasia which is probably one of the best remembered disney sequel moments pocahontas 2 journey to the new world like the original film the sequel is pretty problematic in how it depicts pocahontas but it's fairly entertaining if you completely divorce it from reality lady in the 2 scamps adventure sure it's basically the little mermaid 2 but for boys but i don't see anything wrong with that and when compared to some of the other sequels the conflict doesn't seem as forced with scamp and having a believably strange relationship brother bear 2 this film's greatest strength is its commitment to the original movie's characters and themes but without coming across as derivative kenai and koda's relationship is always entertaining to watch and nida is a strong addition to the universe i just wish the music and pacing was better lilo and stitch 2 stitch gets a glitch by returning to the series character-driven roots stitch gets a glitch is immediately more interesting than the other sequels in the franchise i like that lilo and sitch's relationship is expanded upon and were also given more insight into nani's feelings it's just a feel-good film beauty and the beast the enchanted christmas considering that this was one of disney's earliest direct-to-video projects it's surprising that it manages to hold up so well especially considering how awful the other sequel was despite being a mid-qual the story is actually engaging and feels relatively high stakes plus all the new characters are great you should definitely watch this around christmas time the jungle book 2. i actually prefer this to the original film largely because the characters are so much more developed especially shanti and baloo the little mermaid 2 returned to the sea yes this is my personal bias showing but i promise if you go and watch this movie you'll have a fun time the premise is pretty similar to the original but there are enough differences that it's able to stand on its own plus i just think melody is a really great character who is relatable and inspiring the lion king 2 simba's pride i already know that this is going to be seen as a controversial choice but there's just something about this movie that isn't my cup of tea it has strong characters solid music and lovely animation but i can't see myself watching it over and over again like i could some of the other films sorry mulan 2 boomi if you want but i love this film it has a great message about being true to yourself and it's also realistic about love which i know is upsetting to some people but i appreciate it plus i love the princesses cinderella 3 a twist in time i doubt anyone's surprised by this one but i have to give credit where credit is due they stayed true to the source material while still being experimental i don't love the music but i'm willing to ignore that for such a stellar story not to mention that this was a really clever way of addressing some of the criticisms contemporary viewers had of the cinderella story by giving the prince more personality cinderella more agency and anastasia a redemption arc and i love that they actually committed to the new storyline instead of using magic to turn things back to the way they were with the direct-to-video format being replaced by direct-to-streaming i have to wonder if disney might try to bring back their sequels after all they're definitely less costly than some of their live-action remakes and if they were traditionally animated i could guarantee that they'd appeal to my generation just for nostalgia sake there are plenty of movies that disney never made sequels for like snow white and the seven dwarves robin hood the aristocats and sleeping beauty so there's definitely potential to continue those stories i'd be partial to seeing snow white's story expanded upon myself considering she was disney's very first princess but what would you be interested in seeing disney make a sequel to i hope you enjoyed this video don't forget to like and subscribe and i'll see you soon bye you

Channel: ModernGurlz

Views: 587,463

Keywords: style, modern gurlz, 90s fashion, fashion, movie review, movie commentary, moderngurlz, review, movies, analysis, trivia, movie reviews, tv theory, cinema, television, tv answers, disney, disney live action, live action reboot, ranking, ranking movies, costume design, fashion analysis, style analysis, the little mermaid, the little mermaid review, disney sequel, disney movie, disney ranking, disney review, aladdin, mulan, mulan sequel, cinderella, cinderella review, cinderella sequel

Id: Ruz9lsqQoi8

Length: 96min 38sec (5798 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 18 2022