History Trivia / DisneyAnimatedCanon

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

** 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/DreamWorksAnimation. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/business/media/at-disney-a-celebration-that-was-a-long-time-coming.html 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/{{Frozen|2013}}'', ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' were released, showing that the studios was once again at the top of their game.

* OrwellianRetcon: Some of the racist imagery of their earlier films is downplayed or completely removed in contemporary times. A particularly egregious example is the removal of a black servant pony during a segment of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''.
** A meta example with the franchise itself. On the release of ''The Fox and the Hound'', only three package films are represented to make the canon lineup an even twenty, with some of them added back to make ''The Black Cauldron'' twenty-fifth in release order. Decades later, ''Dinosaur'', a third-party release from a studio that had long gone under, was added into the canon to make ''Tangled'' the fiftieth release.

* NewerThanTheyThink: The idea of a Disney Animated Canon is relatively new and was mostly conceived during the rise of home media for marketing purposes. Around the time of ''The Fox and the Hound'', the films on the poster leading up to it was the first time there was a sense of unity to the franchise, and around the release of ''The Black Cauldron'', marketed as Disney's twenty-fifth animated feature, was when the lineup was set.

** Animator Will Finn enjoyed working on ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'', 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 main cast of ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' are all well-known Broadway stars (plus Creator/KristenBell, though she’s done Broadway, too).

** 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/RobinHood1973''.
--->"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."

** Animator Will Finn enjoyed working on ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', 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 third was after the death of Creator/WaltDisney in 1966. The other executives felt that theatrical animation was no longer viable, particularly since the studio had proven in the 1950s that it could make successful live action, television and theme park projects to carry the company (the short animated film division had already been shut down in 1962). There were plans to close the division after the completion of ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'', but director Ken Anderson was able to convince the executives to keep it open a little longer, claiming that Walt had plans to make ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'', previously a live-action short film intended for television, into a full-length animated movie. Wanting to honor Walt they agreed, and luckily when ''The Jungle Book'' became a huge hit in 1967 it convinced them that there was a future for animated movies, leading them to green-light more.

** 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/DreamWorksAnimation. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/business/media/at-disney-a-celebration-that-was-a-long-time-coming.html 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.

** The canon attempted to un-kill the art form several years later, but only got as far as ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Winnie the Pooh|2011}}'' before deciding that yes, traditional animation was dead. As a rather bitter Creator/{{Jim Cummings|1952}} pointed out, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork they brought the revival's death on themselves]] by putting the new traditionally-animated movies into duels [[CurbStompBattle they couldn't possibly win]] with ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' and ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart2''. Some even think that the canon already believes that traditional animation was dead and decided to duel with those films.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'': Two; ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', which is set in its own universe, and ''WesternAnimation/JungleCubs'', which is a SpinOffBabies version of the original film.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'': A new musical series of the same name is also being produced by WDAS for Disney+.

*** When ''The Princess and the Frog'' and ''WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh2011'' underperformed, combined with the smash success of ''Tangled'', it made the financial prospects of doing another 2D film uncertain.

** The son of Carlo Collodi, the author of the original ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'' book, hated the [[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} Disney adaptation]] for playing fast and loose with his dad's story, and even unsuccessfully tried to sue the studio for misrepresenting his father's work.

--->"Before we started our film, I discovered that Kipling's daughter was still alive and called her. In an elegant, British Dowager-like voice, she confirmed my pronunciation (of Mowgli's name) and added "and, I hate Walter Disney." It was the only time I ever heard anybody call him Walter. In her lifetime, she said nobody ever pronounced anything but Mauwgli."

** The first were the triple failures of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}''; mixed with the onslaught of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the studio lost a lot of money. The post-WWII years found Disney in a position where it was too financially risky to make full-length feature animated films, but also too financially risky to ''not'' have the steady stream of feature animation revenue that cartoon shorts alone couldn't provide. They compromised by releasing [[AnthologyFilm package films]] until they felt that they'd recovered enough to tackle a full-length film again with ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' - if ''Cinderella'' had bombed, Walt Disney admitted that the studio probably wouldn't have survived. Luckily for them it became a massive hit, ushering in a new decade of Disney feature films.
** The second was after ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' flopped. The rise of television meant that people weren't going to the theaters to see animated films they way that they used to, meaning it was no longer cost-effective to make animated films traditionally. The development of the xerox animation technology ended up lowering costs and preventing Disney from shutting down completely, but they still had to lay off a lot of animators in the early 1960s in the wake of ''Sleeping Beauty'''s financial failure.

** ''Franchise/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.

** First commentary by directors Eric Leighton and Ralph Zondag, visual effects supervisor Neil Krepela and digital effects supervisor Neil Eskuri
** Second commentary by producer Pam Marsden, music composer James Newton Howard, co-producer Baker Bloodworth, and art director Cristy Maltese.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'': Commentary by directors Eric Leighton and Ralph Zondag, visual effects supervisor Neil Krepela and digital effects supervisor Neil Eskuri

** ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Two; ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'', which ran in on ABC and in syndication from [[TheNineties 1997 to 1998]] (with ''both'' its seasons running concurrently, with season two first airing ''before'' season one) 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 aired for one season from 2019[[note]]following a "sneak peek" airing in 2018[[/note]] to 2020 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]]

** One of the most intriguing potential films that we may never see is an adaptation of ''Terry Pratchet's Literature/{{Mort}}, [[https://twitter.com/ArtofLostandCan/status/1133389968125116416 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 there were a few main factors that meant they couldn't:

*** 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 increasing 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/LiloAndStitch'': ''Three'' of them within ''fifteen years'' from its 2002 release, although they're all quite different from one another.
*** ''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}}/X-629 and Dr. Hämsterviel), ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'', ''Disney Getaway Blast'', ''VideoGame/DisneyHeroesBattleMode'', and ''VideoGame/DisneyEmojiBlitz'' (which also has Sparky, Reuben/X-625, and Cannonball/X-520 making a cameo). 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 appears at Disney's Hawaiian resort Aulani alongside Stitch.[[/note]]

** ''Bambi'' and ''The Jungle Book'' were long considered for sequels, but were ultimately turned down, allegedly due to Walt Disney's wariness towards sequels (he only shown considerable interest in following onto ''Fantasia'', though in the form of adding new separate segments to rereleases of the first). While second films of all three franchises were eventually made decades later, only ''Fantasia's'' made into Disney Animated Canon. Note that had ''Bambi's Children'' came into fruition it would have been the first sequel to be inducted.
** One of the most intriguing potential films that we may never see is an adaptation of ''Terry Pratchet's Literature/{{Mort}}, [[https://twitter.com/ArtofLostandCan/status/1133389968125116416 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:

** A few RecycledTheSeries were considered, but never left the cutting room floor [[https://animatedviews.com/2013/o-brother-bear-where-art-thou-why-disney-channel-turned-down-brother-bear-the-series/]].

* TheWikiRule: [[https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/The_Disney_Wiki The Disney Wiki.]]

* TropeNamer for the following tropes:
** DisneyAcidSequence
** DisneyDeath
** DisneyDogFight
** {{Disneyesque}}
** {{Disneyfication}}
** DisneyOwnsThisTrope
** DisneySchoolOfActingAndMime
** DisneyVillainDeath
** [[invoked]] By definition, none of Disney's films fit the trope AllAnimationIsDisney, but they are still the TropeNamers.

** The canon attempted to un-kill the art form several years later, but only got as far as ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Winnie the Pooh|2011}}'' before deciding that yes, traditional animation was dead. As a rather bitter Creator/JimCummings pointed out, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork they brought the revival's death on themselves]] by putting the new traditionally-animated movies into duels [[CurbStompBattle they couldn't possibly win]] with ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' and ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart2''. Some even think that the canon already believes that traditional animation was dead and decided to duel with those films.

* OldShame:
** 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). Among all of the Canon movies through ''Raya and The Last Dragon'', ''Make Mine Music'' and ''Melody Time'' both marked the last ones to reach Blu-ray -- and by extension, Walt Disney's last Canon movies to reach Blu-ray -- remaining unavailable until November 2021.
** Some of the racist imagery of their earlier films is downplayed or completely removed in contemporary times. A particularly egregious example is the removal of a black servant pony during a segment of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''.
** Disney ''used'' to have this attitude towards ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' and ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'', but they became big-enough cult classics to go mainstream.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' was the biggest one. Disney wanted people to forget it was even made, but it too became enough of a cult classic that the company eventually allowed at least two [[VideoGame/DisneyTsumTsum mobile]] [[VideoGame/DisneySorcerersArena games]] to make its BigBad a playable character in them.
** Disney doesn't seem to talk about ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'' or ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'' much anymore; they pretty much usurped ''The Black Cauldron'' as their biggest embarrassments.

** ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'': Commentary by writers/directors/producers Ron Clements and John Musker, producer Roy Conli, supervising animators Glen Keane and John Ripa, associate art director Ian Gooding
** ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'': Commentary by Rut and Tuke
** ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'': Commentary by producer Alice Dewey and wrtiers/directors Will Finn and John Sanford

** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': Commentary by co-writers/directors Ron Clements and John Musker, producer Peter Del Vecho

*** Phil Harris, Creator/PatButtram, Creator/SterlingHolloway (a remnant from the studio's Golden Age) and George Lindsey.

** One of the most intriguing potential films that we may never see is an adaptation of ''Terry Pratchet's Literature/{{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:

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' :

*** Second commentary by Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, and restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen

** 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/DreamWorksAnimation. [[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.

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

*** Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, Ruben Aquino, Mark Henn, Tony Fucile.

*** Byron Howard, Don Hall, Jennifer Lee, Stephen J. Anderson, Chris Williams, Rich Moore, Nathan Greno, Jin Kim

** 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:

*** ''Anime/{{Stitch}}'', an anime series that ran from the late 2000s to the early 2010s (with a couple later post-series specials), initially seemed to be set in an AlternateContinuity, but then one third-season episode officially made it a TimeSkip StealthSequel to all the Western animated stuff before it, although the show's heavily-edited English dub established it as a sequel much sooner.
*** ''Animation/StitchAndAi'', a Chinese animated series, came out in 2017. It was partly produced by Americans (including those from the first series) and established itself from the get-go as taking place after ''Leroy & Stitch'', albeit on its own timeline separate from ''Stitch!''.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': ''Zootopia+'' is also being produced by WDAS themselves for Disney+.