Hate for the Disney Sequels

This is a bit of a bothering question of mine. Barring (maybe)The Rescuers Down Under, I've been wondering why exactly the sequels get so much hate. I mean, aside from the poor writing, inferior animation and overall cash-in overtones that is.

I got the inspiration for this topic when looking at the comments for this scene from The Return of Jafar. Watching the clip, I can see where they're coming from with the animation (which, don't get me wrong, is fairly fluid. But the characters look hella ugly). But the comments are just so scathing towards it.

Extremely Goofy is just as good as A Goofy Movie.

Winnie the Pooh is just as good as Many Adventures.

Does that count?

No comment on Toy Story since 2, while a good movie, isn't as good as the original, and I'm one of the two only people in the planet who hasn't watched 3 yet.

Then I must be the other. As I've said before, the first Toy Story is the only Pixar film I've seen in full. (For the record, I do own copies of Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille, and The Incredibles.)

I was meaning the direct-to-video films, so the 2011 Pooh film doesn't count.

Then neither would Down Under, which you explicitly included as an exception.

Yeah, my retardation makes me contradict myself.

edited 15th Feb '13 7:19:10 PM by philipnova798

The early sequels they did in the 90's and prior (Rescuers, Aladdin, etc.) weren't that bad. It was mostly the early 2000's when they decided to SEQUEL ALL THE THINGS all at once and didn't bother to come up with stories for most of them — roughly coincident with their channels swapping out all their cartoons for popstar crap, so I attribute it to general marketing fuckery.

Pixar is of course an exception. I mean, even Cars 2 was watchable.

edited 15th Feb '13 7:25:48 PM by Pykrete

The only Disney sequel I ever liked enough to actually buy is The Lion King 1 1/2, but that one is very much Love It or Hate It. And I once saw Cnderella III because one of my friends owned it, and I was surprised at how not-awful it was.

edited 15th Feb '13 7:35:10 PM by sardns

The rest of Winnie The Pooh follow ups prior were mainly direct to video (eg. Grand Adventure) and are pretty good efforts. Even stuff like the TV shows and holiday specials add up well. A rare example of Disney milking something to good effect.

Bambi II was a decent sequel (midquel whatever), it obviously had a lot to add up to, but they at least put a lot of charm and detail into it.

edited 15th Feb '13 7:39:42 PM by Psi001

Well in principle, sequels in general are a bit of a cash cow, and/or will likely suffer from Tough Act to Follow. Walt said himself that "You can't top pigs with pigs", and to keep moving forwards. Sometimes stories are meant to be completed and to let the imagination do the work for what could potentially happen.

Y'know, it's funny: a long time ago I watched as many of the 2000s sequels as I could stand and/or could find, just to see whether any of them were surprisingly good. And... er...

In general they kind of felt like attempts to cash in, particularly given things like simplification of characters (if not total derailment), new characters that tended to be two-dimensional as well and rather flat, cliche plots. I don't know the specific timeframe a person could use for that set of sequels - I guess as early as 2000... Towards the end of the 2000's the sequels started to get a little better, but they still felt like cash-grabs and occasionally even rehashes.

The Jungle Book 2 is one I dislike particularly - maybe because I feel like there's so much wasted potential there. Tony Jay as Shere Khan is awesome, but it doesn't stop that movie from being as cliche as they come. Mulan 2 has great moments, but the whole thing comes across as just being an excuse to give the three side characters quirky girlfriends. In fact, Hunchback 2 feels like that too: an excuse to give Quasimodo a girlfriend, since he didn't get the girl in the first one.

Begrudgingly, Peter Pan 2 might be the best that I can think of of the one's I've seen - I can't say anything for the Cinderella sequels or the Lady and the Tramp sequel. (Not begrudgingly because I want it to be bad or anything, but more because even though it's a charming movie I just can't stand Peter Pan as a main character) Anyways, Peter Pan 2 keeps all the characters about as charming as they were (the ones that appear anyway), and though it's definitely still a rehash it at least keeps what presumably made the original likable for other people.

Some of the others I wouldn't really call bad movies either: Lilo & Stitch 2 is cheesy but fun, and the Ohana stuff is arguably supposed to be a little cheesy. Plus, it's obviously a pilot - so it's hard to judge it like that, really (it's the same with Return Of Jafar, though that was earlier, and Atlantis 2). I would've liked to see that turn into an actual show. Kronk's New Groove is another one that's cliche but makes up for it for being witty.

All in all... yeah. The hate for them is way unfounded... except in some cases, where it's totally founded.

As for the others, not as bad. Pixar sequels are usually on par with the level of effort of their first movies. Down Under, Return of Jafar (which is cheesier but still good) and Lion King 2 were great without feeling "cookie-cutter" imo. Working with the characters as apposed to just using them to throw a movie together, I guess - they're sequels that feel like they go somewhere - and the one that finishes a character, Aladdin 3, feels like a great adventurous end to the story as its told (even giving the movie an ending similar what the first movie would have had).

What's with all these threads recently asking other people to, like, vindicate their taste in media? Or asking them to explain what was "wrong" with something. Watch it, draw your own conclusions, decide if you think it's good or bad or in between...

We're a site that analyzes trends in fiction. The urge to talk about stuff, review stuff, or talk about reviewing stuff isn't really that surprising.

edited 15th Feb '13 8:56:30 PM by KnownUnknown

The whole point of this thread is to discuss opinions of Western Animation. It would be pretty empty if we weren't interested in what others had to say. The reviews section is for one sided analysises of our own opinions.

edited 15th Feb '13 8:57:20 PM by Psi001

There is one I particularly love- Return To Neverland. Maybe it's because I love when heady issues hit kids movies, but I liked it, I liked that it dared to set reality where it did, and I found it enjoyable- but then, I also haven't rewatched since high-school.

edited 15th Feb '13 9:11:26 PM by Ronnie

Well lets see

Little Mermaid II: Not actually that bad,...certainly less jarring than the original,...just a little too tamed down. But the main character is definitely more interesting.

Never seen anything from Beauty And The Beast

The Aladdin sequels were pretty good,not as good as the first though,but still pretty good

The Lion King sequels were really quite something,1.5 was hilarious enough in it's own right as a re-telling and the 2nd was better than both of them

Never seen the sequel to The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

Atlantis' sequel was just So Bad Its Horrible,...what a disappointment.

Lady And The Tramp sequel,....abysmal

The first Cinderella sequel,...abysmal,...The third one was pretty good even if it totally seemed like a half-assed Ever After

The Jungle Book 2,....abysmal

Tarzan sequels I've never seen

Return to Neverland was a great improvement over the original.

I didn't find Jungle Book 2 terrible, just a half assed rehash of the original story. There didn't seem much point in making the same film again, just lower quality.

I watched Cinderella 2 and Pocahontas 2 more than once, although I barely remember them. Lion King 1 1/2, on the other hand, was pretty fun.

I love The Lion King 1 1/2

If a sequel ain't gonna top the orignal or build on the narrative in some meaningful way, there ain't no point.

I have enjoyed most of the Disney sequels I've seen. Even the Cinderella one. I don't really understand tha hate they get, even if they are awful they are direct- to-video. I bet a lot of people didn't even notice they existed.

I like The Lion King sequels, Lady And The Tramp 2, the Aladdin Sequels, Brother Bear 2, DTV Winnie The Pooh stuff and a few others that I'm forgetting

The rest of it... yeah.

edited 15th Feb '13 11:59:15 PM by PippingFool

I never really had a problem with the DTV Winnie the Pooh stuff in essence since it was always more of a series anyway. Never bothered watching it because I wasn't really into Pooh, so I don't know how well or badly they were done.

Forgot about Lion King 2. That one was good, even if they just jacked another Shakespeare play :V

edited 16th Feb '13 12:39:22 AM by Pykrete

The Atlantis sequel was thoroughly 'okay' for me, but that might be because I walked in knowing it was what of Greg Weisman's 'Team Atlantis' show was animated, cobbled together to attempt to make a full plot, and as such expected something episodic. It even gave me the suspicion that had the show happened, it could have been great.

^ This is basically my reaction to the movie. It's terrible as a film, but it's also obviously a television pilot, and the potential for the show itself to be something good was something.

edited 16th Feb '13 7:19:14 AM by KnownUnknown