Long before Disney got involved with Marvel and Star Wars flicks, the studio built its
reputation on animated movies.
Although their animated films tend to be blockbuster releases and earn positive critical reviews,
Disney's sequels are usually direct-to-video...and decidedly lower quality.
Here are a few Disney sequels you might not even know existed.
"You're banning straight-to-video Disney films?"
"Absolutely.
I mean, look at this, 'Aladdin 4: Jafar May Need Glasses'."
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
"And they lived happily ever after" certainly sounds like a nice way to end an animated
fairy tale, but some people want to know what comes after that.
That's why Disney decided to make a sequel to Cinderella in 2002 - more than 50 years
after the original film.
It might've garnered an abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score of 11 percent, but that didn't stop
the studio from making a third installment, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, which was
at least better than its predecessor.
It released in 2007, it miraculously earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 71 percent and
accumulated almost $92 million in home video sales.
At least some Disney executives got their happily ever after, even if our childhoods
didn't.
Return to Never Land
Almost 50 years after the first Peter Pan film released in theaters, Disney released
a theatrical sequel, Return to Never Land.
Just like the first film, the sequel is partially based on J.M.
Barrie's Peter and Wendy.
It follows the events of When Wendy Grew Up: An Afterthought, an additional scene Barrie
added to his Peter Pan play.
And that afterthought probably should have stayed in Never Land.
Return to Never Land received generally poor reviews, but it still raked in almost $110
million worldwide on an estimated $20 million production budget.
Disney opted not to pursue another sequel, but the story did spawn the Jake and the Never
Land Pirates spinoff TV series on Disney Junior.
An Extremely Goofy Movie
This sequel to 1995's A Goofy Movie follows Goofy and Max as they both head to college
to earn their undergraduate degrees…. which already sounds like a pretty awful premise.
How did a guy like Goofy pass the basic admissions process anyhow?
Are we supposed to assume it's on some kind of musical scholarship?
Attending the same college as your Goofy father isn't exactly the greatest idea in the world,
setting up all kinds of conflict and, well, goofiness.
Since the films are technically a spinoff of the TV series Goof Troop and continue the
story of Goofy and Max years later, An Extremely Goofy Movie effectively acts as Goof Troop's
series finale.
Interestingly, the sequel is a rare case of a direct-to-video Disney sequel rating slightly
higher than its predecessor, but by the year 2000, America's youth were just goofed out.
The Jungle Book 2
It's rare for a Disney sequel to open theatrically, but most critics believe Disney would've been
better off just sending The Jungle Book 2 straight to DVD, or maybe the garbage.
Produced by Disney Toon Studios, The Jungle Book 2 released in 2003, 36 years after the
first Jungle Book movie.
It starred John-Rhys Davies, Phil Collins, and John Goodman, as well as young up-and-comers
Haley Joel Osment and Mae Whitman.
Despite being a worldwide box office success, grossing $135 million on an estimated $20
million production budget, the film didn't strike a chord with audiences the same way
the original film did.
Fortunately, it looks like Disney got back on the critics' good side with 2016's live-action
remake.
Kronk's New Groove
Disney released this direct-to-video sequel-slash-spinoff to The Emperor's New Groove in 2005, five
years after the original film.
The sequel takes place after the events of the first movie and follows Yzma's former
henchman, Kronk.
That's not to say the Emperor isn't in the movie at all — he actually narrates the
tale about Kronk's journey to win his father's approval.
"I'm nice now!
Didn't you see the first movie?
Yehehaaay!
A 50-foot me!"
Despite the talented voice cast — David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, and Patrick
Warburton — returning for the sequel, critics heavily criticized the film for its lack of
originality and, well, groove.
Whereas the original film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song, Kronk's
New Groove failed to produce even one decent song... at least according to the critics.
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Beauty and the Beast is one of the most beloved Disney films of all time, with critics like
Roger Ebert hailing it as a magical tale in the same league as Pinocchio and Snow White.
Considering the first film was the first animated movie ever to be nominated for Best Picture
at the Academy Awards, it's disheartening to see that its sequel was universally panned
by critics.
Although technically a sequel, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas takes place
within the events of the first Beauty and the Beast film, not long after the Beast rescues
Belle from the wolves
Disney moved forward with yet another follow-up, Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World,
one year after The Enchanted Christmas, set shortly after the events of The Enchanted
Christmas.
As with the previous installment, Belle's Magical World received poor reviews.
Maybe two more movies about a monster with rage issues and sassy appliances imprisoning
a lady was too much for kids.
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