Disney is well known for their magical, wonderful, and beloved animated characters and films. Animated Disney flicks like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, and Aladdin have worked their way into the hearts of people of all ages everywhere. Many of these films have such classic stories and memorable characters that you love and leave you wanting more. But what happens when you get more? Are you satisfied? Do you feel the same sort of happiness and excitement you got when you watched the original animated Disney greats? Or do you feel disappointed and wonder what the writers were thinking when they came up with such ludicrous ideas? Well, you’re not alone if you see a sequel to a great animated Disney classic and are left feeling rather empty. It’s a blight in the film industry that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. When something gets really popular and leaves a huge impact on audiences everywhere, filmmakers decide to try and cash in by making sequels, or even prequels, most of which are usually poor in comparison with their predecessors. Even terrible films somehow get sequels these days. This seems to be a unhealthy obsession in the film industry, especially with Disney. Disney is guilty of producing as many sequels as possible and for just about every memorable animated film they’ve ever released. There’s so many of them out there and some of them sound ridiculous even by the title. There are sequels such as Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, Aladdin: The Return of Jafar, The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, Atlantis: Milo’s Return, and Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. Did we really need to ask the question of “what happened after happily ever after?” Why does Disney produce so many sequels? Perhaps the more important question is, are these sequels to the classic original Disney films necessary? Why make all of these sequels that hardly live up to the original films?
First of all, I’m not saying kids can’t or don’t love these sequels nor am I berating anyone for being entertained by them. Personally, as an adult, I just find some of these sequels to be terrible. Some of the ideas for these films are just so silly. The plot for Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time in particular made my head spin. In this film, the evil stepmother travels back in time to prevent Cinderella from marrying the prince and living happily ever after. Now, that’s a pretty silly plot for something like Cinderella. The story of someone who was defeated in the previous film finding a way to go back in time and change the outcome in the sequel is very generic and overdone. The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride was also sort of strange. Simba’s daughter falls in love with some other lion from a rival pack and their love is forbidden, so the audience is basically left with a Romeo and Juliet scenario, even though our main protagonists are lions and the ending is actually a happy one.
Another strange case is The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea. This film takes place about 12 years after the events in the first film. Now, think back to the original film. In the first film, Ariel wished to leave the sea to experience walking and actual civilization. However, her father, King Triton, believed that it was too dangerous for her to do so. In the sequel, Ariel and Eric, now married, have a daughter named Melody, who has no idea that her mother was a mermaid and that her grandfather is King Triton. Young Melody is upset because she longs to swim in the sea, but her parents forbid her to do so because it’s too dangerous. What we have here is a reversal of Ariel’s wish in the first film, where Melody wants to experience swimming in the ocean. Just when you’re wondering what on earth could go wrong, we see that the evil Ursula, who has been dead since the first film, has a demented sister that wants to cause harm to Melody in order to get King Triton’s trident. Naturally, Ariel and Eric are quick to act and try foil the evildoer’s diabolical plot while their daughter disobeys her parents. Ariel becomes a mermaid again to return to the sea, reveal her big secret to her daughter, and save her beloved daughter’s life.
The few animated Disney sequels I find to be somewhat passable are Pocahontas 2: Journey to the New World, and Aladdin and the King of Thieves. With Pocahontas 2, the events in the film, Pocahontas traveling to England and marrying John Rolfe, actually historically happened. With the third Aladdin film, Aladdin’s relationship with his father was somewhat interesting. For a character like Aladdin, one would often wonder what happened to his parents. This film actually does pretty well with the reconnecting of Aladdin and his father. In addition, Robin Williams returned as the Genie after not providing the voice for the character in Aladdin: The Return of Jafar. The second Aladdin film, Aladdin: The Return of Jafar was rather poor, as the plot was quite silly, the songs were forgettable, some of the characters did not have their original voice actors returning, and one of the villains had such a ridiculous name. The name of the villain is Abis Mal, which is basically just the word “abysmal” broken in half to forge an Arabian name for a villain.
Disney just recently officially announced two more sequels. Cars 3 is in the works and, just when you thought The Incredibles would remain untouched, The Incredibles 2 was also officially announced. Why does Disney produce so many sequels? If one were to ask someone from Disney why so many sequels are made, they would probably tell you that they think they have more great ideas to share with their loyal fans. While this may be true, it’s also easy to tell that they are cashing in on the popularity of these films by making sequels. Some of the ideas for these films are just so odd that, when you watch some these sequels, it just doesn’t feel right, like the plot to Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time. The idea of the stepmother traveling back in time to reverse the events in the first film alone is just such an odd idea for something like Cinderella.
So now we are left with the big question, are these terrible Disney sequels necessary or unnecessary? Should Disney stop making all of these awful direct-to-video sequels? I personally think that they are indeed necessary, and if Disney wants to keep making all of these sequels that go straight to home video, more power to them. I can’t deny that there are a handful of kids and Disney fanatics out there that actually enjoy these sequels and want more of these legendary characters, stories, and worlds that Disney has created. It’s really all a matter of personal opinion. Those who actually like them are welcome to enjoy them. For those who hate the continuous onslaught of awful Disney sequels, these Disney sequels still serve a purpose. These terrible sequels only make you appreciate the original films a lot more. To me and to all who loved the original films and hate these sequels, nothing beats the original, critically-acclaimed material. In conclusion, love them or hate them, these bad sequels definitely exist for a reason.
Kyles animation blog 
As a major Disney fanatic, I absolutely hate Disney sequels, with the possible exceptions of Aladdin and the King of Thieves and Pocahontas 2 (not really for the story, more because I like that song she sings “Where do I Go From Here”). I find them so unnecessary and it ruins the happily ever after for me, and like you said, they get so silly. Cinderella and time travel? Little Mermaid 3 basically ripping off Sound of Music? Yeah, it makes more sense to pretend like they don’t exist. The only reason I can imagine why Disney made all these is because there was an audience for them. Disney is a corporation so they need to make money, so I can’t be mad at them for it. Plus these movies clearly have fans, so maybe they’re not so bad.
Disney sequels are a controversial subject in the animation world, and it is difficult to look past the criticism and backlash many of these films hold. By taking these classic films, which are still commercially successful and easily recognized by the masses today, and reopening them to generate revenue seems the most obvious reason, but may not be only motivator for this animation giant. Reinventing classic worlds and introducing new stories for these characters to tell might just be Disney’s (albeit half-baked) attempt at appealing to newer audiences and gives younger audiences a chance to love these characters in a completely new way. I’m not saying that the sequels aren’t flawed or poorly made, but if Disney put more time, money, and effort into these sequels (like Pixar successfully did with the Toy Story franchise), they could provide a much better product for new and old Disney fans to enjoy. I personally dislike many of the sequels, and I agree with you in the fact that it makes you appreciate the original films more. But Disney, like the rest of the movie industry, will continue to milk successful franchises dry instead of putting effort into original films for audiences to enjoy.
Hey I personally hate Disney sequels, it usually ruins the originality of the plot. Because they sometimes try to butcher the original theme of the movie and add unnecessary romance theme to fill in.
I whole heartedly agree with sequels. The original film always holds the number one spot in my attention. I fear that sequels are only a ploy to garner more profits and not to attach the viewer to a character or series. Some series of films work. Toy Story has had great success and great story telling. But I just posted about another Shrek coming to production. Really? I think we have had enough Shrek. The problem with most sequels is that they are usually directed by a different person, therefore lose the message and vision of the original story teller.