History Trivia / DisneyAnimatedCanon

** Animator Will Finn enjoyed working on ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'', but he stated on his Small Room blog that he wasn't happy with his animation of Grimbsy, saying there are only one or two scenes he did that don't make him cringe today.

** The fourth was ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'', which was such a huge [[BoxOfficeBomb financial misfire]] that it nearly took the studio down with it (it was still able to kill the Disney careers of directors Ted Berman and Creator/RichardRich and producer Joe Hale, plus it's one of the factors that forced Ron Miller to leave and allowed Jeffrey Katzenberg into Disney). Thankfully, the modest success of ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' managed to keep the studio afloat until ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'' came in and started the Renaissance.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'': [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992 A prequel TV series of the same name]] that ran in the '90s. The direct-to-video prequel ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIII'', however, retconned some of the show's elements.

*** Second commentary by Pixar director Pete Docter, Disney historian Paula Sigman, and Disney animator Andreas Deja, with archival audio excerpts by writers Dick Huemer and Joe Grant, animators Ward Kimball, and Wolfgang Reitherman, sound designer Jim MacDonald, and layout artist Ken O’Conner

** The fifth wasn't a single film but the large amount of commercial and/or critical disappointments that lasted for years after Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney and started Creator/DreamWorks. [[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/business/media/at-disney-a-celebration-that-was-a-long-time-coming.html?hpw&rref=movies&_r=0 Once Pixar was officially integrated into Disney, there were once again talks of permanently shutting down the studios]]. Thankfully, [[Creator/{{ABC}} Bob Iger]], Creator/JohnLasseter, and Ed Catmull decided to work on reviving the studios with the Pixar charm instead of shutting it down [[ToughActToFollow out of being ]] [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadowed by Pixar]]. Years later, ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' were released, showing that the studios was once again at the top of their game.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'' is practically a "Who's Who" of popular film, stage and television personalities of 1994.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'': Two; ''[[WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa]]'', a spin-off which came in the '90s, focuses on the original film's supporting characters. Like ''The Little Mermaid'' TV series above, some of the show's elements are retconned by the direct-to-video POVSequel ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf''. ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'', which came in TheNewTens, is primarily set during the TimeSkip of the [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride first direct-to-video sequel]].

** ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' was apparently supposed to be Disney's 32nd animated film, to have been released during the 1993 holiday season, with ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'', then Disney's 33rd animated film, being scheduled for the 1994 holiday season. Then ''Nightmare'' was rebranded as a Touchstone film due to being DarkerAndEdgier even by Disney's standards (and some of the animated canon's entries are more mature than others) and ''Lion King'' found itself pushed forward to summer 1994 and directly replacing ''Nightmare'' as Disney's 32nd as a direct result of said rebranding. Had things gone as planned, ''Nightmare'' would've been Disney's first non-hand-drawn film, as well as the first and so far only stop-motion entry, in the animated canon.

** ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'': Commentary by writers/directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois and producer Clarke Spencer

** ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': Deleted scenes commentary by director Rich Moore, writer Phil Johnson and story supervisor Jim Readron

** ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Two; ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'', which ran in TheNineties and is set in an AlternateContinuity given that it's based on both the original animated film and [[Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians its 1996 remake]], and ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatianStreet'', which began airing in The New '10s and is set in its own separate continuity decades after the original film.[[note]]Much of the dalmatian characters are descendants of Pongo and Perdita through the family matriarch.[[/note]]

*** ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'', bookended by ''WesternAnimation/StitchTheMovie'' and ''WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch'', ran during [[TurnOfTheMillennium the mid 2000s]] and was the only one of the three shows to truly follow up on the original. This is the possible exception to CanonDiscontinuity that we noted back on the main page, since Disney has been significantly and somewhat uncharacteristically more open to incorporating this series' characters in their marketing and merchandise years after the show ended, even in the [[FirstInstallmentWins more puristic]] United States.[[note]]The show's main BigBad Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel made a cameo in the original film, [[Characters/LiloAndStitchExperiments Stitch's cousins]] were briefly alluded to in the beginning of ''Lilo & Stitch'' (and actually appeared in [[ComicStrip/ComicZoneLiloAndStitch supplementary]] [[VideoGame/StitchExperiment626 material]] released ''before'' the original film) one of said cousins--Splodyhead (Experiment 619)--actually made a cameo in ''Big Hero 6'', ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' incorporated Sparky (Experiment 221) in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', and Zap (X-603) is a spell in ''VideoGame/DisneySorcerersArena''. Most prominently, however, Disney's current marketing and merchandising for the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' franchise involves Stitch's love interest from the show, Angel (Experiment 624). She's even become a playable/unlockable character in several Disney crossover mobile games including ''VideoGame/DisneyTsumTsum'' (and later on, so has WesternAnimation/{{Leroy|AndStitch}} and Dr. Hämsterviel), ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'', ''Disney Getaway Blast'', ''VideoGame/DisneyHeroesBattleMode'', and ''VideoGame/DisneyEmojiBlitz''. And adding on to all that, Disney has even made her, some of Stitch's other cousins, and Dr. Hämsterviel costumed characters at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks, and Angel's now even appearing at Disney's Hawaiian resort Aulani alongside Stitch.[[/note]]

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' (later rebranded as ''Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure''), a 2D animated sequel series [[{{Interquel}} set between both]] the CGI original film and [[WesternAnimation/TangledEverAfter its sequel short film]].

** ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'': ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries'', which is another 2D animated sequel series to a CGI film. The guys behind ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' created this show. Another series called ''Baymax!'' is also in production for Creator/DisneyPlus.

** Averted with ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog''. Most of the cast is made up of lesser-known character actors and actual voice actors. A few cameos aside, the biggest names in the cast are Creator/JohnGoodman and Creator/OprahWinfrey. Emeril Lagasse is in there too, as a crocodile who yells "Bam!" a lot.

* BannedEpisode: ''WesternAnimation/MakeMineMusic'' eventually became this because of "The Martins and the Coys".

* HistoryRepeats:
** A meta-example. The Disney Revival films ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' are an interesting mirror of the Disney Renaissance films ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''. Each set of films had the situation where a "talking animals" film was released and only expected to be a "filler" film that came before the next highly anticipated "princess" film. In each case, the "talking animals" film became a massively successful SleeperHit that surpassed its respective "princess" film. ''Moana'' took in a very respectful $640 million worldwide but was outdone by ''Zootopia'' which took in $1.02 billion. ''Pocahontas'' was a moderate success with $346 million and was eclipsed by ''Lion King''[='=]s $968 million. However, ''Moana'' was still well received by critics and audiences while ''Pocahontas'' had a very mixed reception.
** Another meta-example: The last time Disney Animation Studios had two of its films nominated for "Best Animated Feature" in the same year was back in 2002 with ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' and ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet''. In 2016, almost 15 years later, they had ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}''. Both times, Disney had a film in the running with a Polynesian protagonist and a strong Polynesian influence. Bonus points for John Musker and Ron Clements who were the directors for both ''Treasure Planet'' and ''Moana'' (both of which included a reference to ''Lilo & Stitch'' in the beginning of their films with their protagonists in their youth).

* AllStarCast: Although not as blatantly advertised and abused as Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, the movies in the canon will occasionally have a staggering roster of A-list celebrities lending their vocal talent. Before 1992's ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' introduced Robin Williams as the Genie, Disney preferred actual voice actors, with the oldest films having actors who were theater mainstays or those who were experienced with singing and providing voice work on radio shows. After that, they started to increasingly advertise celebrity roles. Some of the more blatant examples: Music/MandyMoore and Creator/ZacharyLevi as the leads in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', Music/MileyCyrus in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'' (particularly egregious because she replaced [[Creator/ChloeMoretz a voice actor]] who had already recorded most of her lines) and perhaps Creator/MelGibson in ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''.

** In [[http://www.animatormag.com/archive/issue-26/issue-26-page-24/ issue 26]] of the magazine "Animator", Creator/DonBluth expressed dissatisfaction with working on Disney's ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'';
--->"I drew with great excitement, thinking how good it was to work on a Disney feature. When Robin Hood was completed I decided it did not look the greatest of films. The heart wasn't in it. It had technique, the characters were well drawn, the Xerox process retained the fine lines so I could see all of the self indulgence of the animators, each one saying, “Look how great I am,” but the story itself had no soul."

** Disney ''used'' to have this attitude towards ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' and ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'', but they became big-enough cult classics to go mainstream.

*** Phil Harris, Pat Buttram, Sterling Holloway (a remnant from the studio's Golden Age) and George Lindsey.

*** Alan Menken and Randy Newman.

*** John Lasseter, Peter Del Vecho, Roy Conli, Clark Spencer

** ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' is not held in high regard by either its staff or the company as a whole, not helping that it was one of the biggest flops that Disney ever experienced and destroyed the careers of its producer, Joe Hale (who had an editing run-in with Jeffrey Katzenberg that didn't help his chances), and co-directors Ted Berman and Richard Rich.

** ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Two; ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'', which ran in TheNineties and is set in an AlternateContinuity to the original animated film, and ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatianStreet'', which began airing in The New '10s and is set in its own separate continuity decades after the original film.[[note]]Much of the dalmatian characters are descendants of Pongo and Perdita through the family matriarch.[[/note]]

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'': [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid A prequel TV series of the same name]] that ran in the '90s. The direct-to-video prequel ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIII'', however, retconned some of the show's elements.

* CharacterSpecificPages:
** [[Characters/BambiRonno Ronno]]
** [[Characters/CinderellaCinderella Cinderella]]
** [[Characters/FrozenAnna Anna]]
** [[Characters/FrozenElsa Elsa]]
** [[Characters/FrozenHans Hans]]
** [[Characters/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisneyJudgeClaudeFrollo Judge Claude Frollo]]
** [[Characters/TheLionKingSimba Simba]]
** [[Characters/TheLionKingScar Scar]]

* FanNickname: All the eras' names are this, even the widely-recognized Disney Renaissance. In fact, the names we use on the Recap page were partly taken from the Disney Wiki's articles before they later decided to delete all of them save for the aforementioned Disney Renaissance.

** The descendants of Creator/VictorHugo bashed Disney in an open letter to the Libération newspaper for their ancestor getting no mention on the advertisement posters for [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame the Disney adaptation]] of ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', and they harshly criticized the film itself as a vulgar commercialization of Victor Hugo's story.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'': Two; ''[[WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa]]'', a spin-off which came in the '90s, focuses on the original film's supporting characters, and ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'', which came in TheNewTens, is primarily set during the TimeSkip of the [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride first direct-to-video sequel]].

*** Some of these shows were developed for a proposed Disney Heritage project, in which shows based on the films would be promoted globally in hopes of increasingly the films' popularity. While execs for Disney Channel International was enthusiastic about it, [[ExecutiveMeddling Disney Channel USA was not]] as it would have to finance half of the project and wanted to focus more on tween programming as they believed that genre would be more successful domestically. ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' was an exception, presumably partly because its premise fit what Disney Channel USA was aiming for.
*** ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear: The Series'': Set after the first movie, Koda would've tried to add more orphaned animals to his and Kenai's family — a hyper husky puppy, two owlets, and Doohickey, the last surviving member of a elephant/platypus hybrid species. Koda, Rutt, and Tuke would've had their voice actors reprise their roles, though Kenki would've been [[TheOtherDaryl voiced]] by Creator/WillFriedle. The series got as far as an animatic pilot and was a hit with test audiences, though ''The Emperor's New School'' was greenlit over it due to the above reason as well as its mother film being a slightly bigger hit in the box office and buzz in the US over ''Brother Bear''.

** Most of the package films from ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'' to ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' didn't receive wide theatrical re-releases (though select segments from them did), and most of their home video releases didn't receive large advertising campaigns. Disney seems especially ashamed today of ''WesternAnimation/MakeMineMusic'' and ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime'', the two usually regarded as "''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' with pop music and/or more dialogue." Their Laserdiscs remained exclusive to Japan, and both movies took several years to reach VHS. ''Make Mine Music'' in particular became Walt's last Canon movie to make its VHS debut; until its 2000 induction into the Gold Classic Collection, Disney instead preferred to individually sell its best-remembered segments (such as "Music/PeterAndTheWolf", originally written for a cancelled ''Fantasia'' sequel).''Make Mine Music'' and ''Melody Time'' both marked the Canon's last hand-drawn movies to reach Blu-ray -- and by extension, Walt Disney's last Canon movies to reach Blu-ray -- remaining unavailable until November 2021.

** Most of the package films from ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'' to ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' didn't receive wide theatrical re-releases (though select segments from them did), and most of their home video releases didn't receive large advertising campaigns. Disney seems especially ashamed today of ''WesternAnimation/MakeMineMusic'' and ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime'', the two usually regarded as "''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' with pop music and/or more dialogue." Their Laserdiscs remained exclusive to Japan, and both movies took several years to reach VHS. ''Make Mine Music'' in particular became Walt's last Canon movie to make its VHS debut; until its 2000 induction into the Gold Classic Collection, Disney instead preferred to individually sell its best-remembered segments (such as "Music/PeterAndTheWolf", originally written for a cancelled ''Fantasia'' sequel). By the end of TheNewTens, ''Make Mine Music'' and ''Melody Time'' remained Walt's only Canon films unavailable on Blu-ray, and the only late-'40s package films Disney still censored on DVD[[note]]although the uncensored version of ''Melody Time'' came to Creator/DisneyPlus in 2019[[/note]].

*** Some of these shows were developed for a proposed Disney Heritage project, in which shows based on the films would be promoted globally in hopes of increasingly the films' popularity. While execs for Disney Channel International was enthusiastic about it, [[ExecutiveMeddling Disney Channel USA was not]] as it would have to finance half of the project and wanted to focus more on tween programming as they believed that genre would be more successful domestically. ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' was an exception, presumably because its mother film
*** ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear: The Series'': Set after the first movie, Koda would've tried to add more orphaned animals to his and Kenai's family — a hyper husky puppy, two owlets, and Doohickey, the last surviving member of a elephant/platypus hybrid species. Koda, Rutt, and Tuke would've had their voice actors reprise their roles, though Kenki would've been [[TheOtherDaryl voiced]] by Creator/WillFriedle. The series got as far as an animatic pilot and was a hit with test audiences,

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries''/''Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure'', which is a 2D animated sequel series [[{{Interquel}} set between both]] the CGI original film and [[WesternAnimation/TangledEverAfter its sequel short film]].

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'': A new musical series based on ''Moana'' is also being produced by WDAS for Disney+.

** One of the most intriguing potential films that we may never see is an adaptation of ''Terry Pratchet's [[Literature/{{Mort}} Mort]], [[https://twitter.com/ArtofLostandCan/status/1133389968125116416?s=19 and even got up to concept art!]]'' The story goes that after ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' Musker and Clemants wanted to adapt the book as a traditionally 2D animated film, but that there were a few main factors that meant they couldn't:

*** The Pratchet estate would only sell the rights to Discworld as a whole, meaning that Disney would have to basically option the entire [[LongRunner 34]] book series just to adapt one story.

** [[Characters/FrozenKristoff Kristoff]]

** The fifth wasn't a single film but the large amount of commercial and/or critical disappointments that lasted for years after Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney and started Creator/DreamWorks. [[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/business/media/at-disney-a-celebration-that-was-a-long-time-coming.html?hpw&rref=movies&_r=0 Once Pixar was officially integrated into Disney, there were once again talks of permanently shutting down the studios]]. Thankfully, [[Creator/{{ABC}} Bob Iger]], [[Creator/PixarRegulars John Lasseter, and Ed Catmull]] decided to work on reviving the studios with the Pixar charm instead of shutting it down [[ToughActToFollow out of being ]] [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadowed by Pixar]]. Years later, ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' were released, showing that the studios was once again at the top of their game.

* FandomLifeCycle: Ranges from 2 to 5, depending on the movie. Most of the Creator/WaltDisney-era films, [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation 1990s films]] and [[TheNewTens more recent films]] get to 4-5, but the lesser-known films of the canon have their fair share of defenders.
* FranchiseKiller: There have been at least five close calls where the Disney Animation Studios was nearly shut down.

* TheWikiRule: Has a wiki [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/The_Disney_Wiki here.]]

** One of the most intriguing potential films that we may never see is an adaptation of ''Terry Pratchet's [[Literature/{{Mort}} Mort]], [[https://twitter.com/ArtofLostandCan/status/1133389968125116416?s=19 and even got up to concept art]]!'' The story goes that after WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Musker and Clemants wanted to adapt the book as a traditionally 2D animated film, but that there were a few main factors that meant they couldn't:

** Animator Will Finn enjoyed working on WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid, but he stated on his Small Room blog that he was not happy with his animation of Grimbsy, saying there are only one or two scenes he did that don't make him cringe today.