The magical world of Walt Disney animation has amassed quite the following over the
last century. Whether you’re young or old, you really can never outgrow Disney.
They’ve made movies we will cherish for our entire lives. They are movies we want to share with our
families time and time again. With such a long history and so many movies under their belt,
it’s no surprise that opinions on Disney vary drastically from person to person.
Your favorite Disney movie could very well be another person’s least favorite,
and the inverse is of course true. But of all the unpopular Disney opinions we have heard,
which ones do we have to agree with, and which ones are we not on the same page as?
I’m Kifinosi with WickedBinge, and this is Disney Unpopular Opinions We Love and Hate!
First on the chopping block is probably the most popular Disney “hot take”, that being that Disney
should return to making hand-drawn movies. Many fans feel the computer-generated Disney animated
movies just don’t measure up to the look and feel of their hand-drawn classics, and that it’s long
past time that they return to their roots. On this matter, we have to agree. Though we enjoy a lot of
Disney’s computer-animated films, we feel there is a lot more to love about hand-drawn animation,
which is why it’s such a shame that Disney has more or less abandoned the medium. Disney
returning to hand-drawn animation is something that could only help the studio, not hurt it.
We’re slowly starting to get 2D animated films back into theaters, like the Bob’s Burgers movie,
so why shouldn’t Disney jump onto that train? Nostalgia for the hand-animated classics is
also at an all-time high, which is why we cannot imagine the general public wouldn’t be at least
a bit interested in seeing Disney return to this format. Doing this could also help Disney stand
out from their competitors even more. Everybody’s doing 3D animated films, but not one is taking
advantage of what 2D has to offer. Disney could change that very easily. We should also mention
that we are not trying to say Disney shouldn’t make computer-generated films, but rather that
they should work with both forms of animation. Why would you not want to get the best of both worlds?
Up next is another opinion that, despite being pretty unpopular, is still nonetheless frequently
heard. This opinion is that The Lion King is overrated. Though many view it as Disney’s
masterpiece, and a “must-see” in their catalog, there does exist a contingency of people who
think it’s a bit overhyped. Some can’t stand the music, while others don’t buy into the film’s plot
essentially being Hamlet but with animals. So where do we stand on the matter? Well,
we respectfully have to disagree, as we think Lion King is entirely deserving of its place in
Disney’s legacy. Sure, the plot plays it safe and is relatively familiar, but is that truly
a bad thing? Star Wars was a blend of westerns and samurai movies set in space, and that didn’t
stop it from being a smash hit. Really, we think the reason Lion King has struck such a chord with
audiences is because of how universal the story is, similar to something like Star Wars. It’s
not a folktale set in some particular civilization like a lot of other Disney movies are. It’s just
a story about a family told through wild animals. Anyone of any background can be engrossed in the
story in a way that most Disney films just don’t accomplish. We can understand why people don’t
like The Lion King, but we’d be lying if we didn’t say we understood the film’s appeal a lot more!
Going from a Disney classic to one of their more recent offerings, it’s time to talk about
Ralph Breaks the Internet! Almost four years after its release, a lot of fans are still divided on
the movie. Some see it as a worthy successor to the first, while others perceive it as little more
than a cash grab. However, most can agree that if there’s one thing Wreck-It Ralph 2 really needed,
it was to be more original. Most felt the movie needed to be more in touch with its video game
roots like the first film, rather than focus on other Disney franchises and the Internet.
Quite frankly, we have some mixed feelings about this opinion. On the one hand,
it is very strange that a movie based on a video game character doesn’t really have anything to
do with video games anymore. While we spent most of the first movie discovering and exploring the
worlds of different arcade games, we see almost no new games in this one. It’s all been replaced
in favor of references to social media and other Disney properties. The Internet element doesn’t
feel like a huge leap from the first one, but the Disney tie-ins do make the film seem rather
soulless. It feels like an inclusion just to make sure people know that they are indeed watching
a Disney movie. However, on the opposite side of things, we can commend Disney for trying to
do something new with the sequel. If the movie was more of what the first Wreck-It Ralph was,
people would be writing it off as unoriginal and formulaic. It would probably feel a lot
like those old Disney direct-to-video sequels, and is that what anybody would want from a big-budget,
theatrical movie? While we credit Disney for doing something a little more original with this movie,
we also don’t believe they found the best place to take the series forward,
forcing us to have a pretty mixed reaction to both the movie and this take.
In the Disney animation fandom, it isn’t uncommon to see people argue about which is better,
2D animation or 3D animation. For a lot of Disney purists, hand-drawn animation is a far
superior form of animation when compared to its CG counterpart. People think of it as an art form
that is far more limitless and imaginative than what can be accomplished with computer animation.
This is another one we have to agree on. We feel that 2D animation lets the uniqueness
of an artist’s style feel far more apparent than the majority of CG animation does. With computer
animation, you’re a lot more boxed in with what you can and can’t do. The same cannot be said for
hand-drawn works. You can see this perfectly in Disney’s 2D and 3D movies. While their hand-drawn
films employ a variety of different art styles and looks, their computer-animated movies all
look about the same. The characters have similar body types, and you get the sense that all of the
characters could be swapped out between movies and not much would look different. We also feel
hand-drawn animation ages a lot better than 3D animation does. While not every aspect of
classic Disney films has aged well, the animation always feels timeless. When you look at an older
CG animated Disney film, like Chicken Little, for example, you definitely get an idea of when the
movie was made. In conclusion, while we do enjoy a lot of CG-animated Disney movies, when we have to
choose between them and the hand-drawn classics, we’re going with 2D every day of the week!
While people praise Disney and their animation, regardless of what style it is,
people are a lot harsher on their story structure. In the eyes of many, Disney movies are way too
formulaic. They find a classic fairy tale, make it a musical, throw in some princesses, villains,
and talking animals, and call it a day. While we understand why so many hold this opinion,
we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have mixed feelings on this matter. We think this opinion
holds a lot of weight in regards to the films of the Disney Renaissance era, and older classics
like Snow White and Cinderella. Those films fit the “Disney formula” to a tee. However,
when you look at their more recent offerings, this is totally untrue. Do Wreck-It Ralph and
Zootopia really fit into the established Disney formula? Even films that do feature some of these
elements manage to stand out more than a lot of their older films do. Encanto is a musical,
but does that mean it fits this formula? You also have to look at films like Ralph Breaks
the Internet and Frozen 2, which are totally unlike the Disney formula simply by being sequels,
something the studio has seldom ever done in their long history.
So, while we understand why people think Disney movies are all the same, if you take a closer
look at them, you’ll see there are far more differences between them than similarities!
If there’s one thing every Disney fan seems to love, it’s a good Disney villain! From Captain
Hook to Scar, these characters remain some of the most popular in Disney’s entire pantheon. However,
for a lot of fans, the newer villains don’t quite measure up to the iconic Disney villains from the
days of old. This has led many to believe that the greatest weakness of modern Disney is its lack of
compelling villains. A lot of viewers think Disney relies way too much on the “surprise villain”
trope, where a character we thought was good turns out to be the real villain. This has made many of
their recent villains feel a bit repetitive for a lot of fans. This is yet another take that we have
to agree with. The villains in modern Disney movies are at their best, serviceable, and at
their worst, completely unmemorable. And that’s when they do include a villain! Some movies, like
Frozen 2, don’t have a central antagonist that the hero must battle against. Other movies, such as
the recent Encanto, chose to have their villains be more of a concept than an actual character.
There isn’t really a villain in the movie, with the main antagonist instead coming in the form
of family trauma. We feel it’s more than time for the classic, mustache-twirling villains to come
back to the world of Disney. While people tend to criticize Disney’s modern villains, who is the one
that everyone agrees is a great villain? Mother Gothel from Tangled of course! And it makes sense,
as she is the villain that best embodies the characteristics of classic Disney villains.
It’s rather surprising that Disney has not made more villains that are similar to her,
especially considering she’s far and away the most popular of the newer antagonists. Consider
this a message to all future Disney villains! In a world of Hans and Yokai’s, be a Mother Gothel!
While people love the Disney Renaissance era, and the majority seem to enjoy the more recent
Disney movies, there does exist a period between these two that has somewhat been forgotten by
time. That is the Experimental Era. This era saw Disney abandon the musical format they had become
known for, and attempt everything and anything. From buddy comedies to sci-fi adventures,
they did it all. While the majority of fans look back on this era as something akin to a dark age,
some fans think the Experimental Era is underrated. It’s not too uncommon to hear
someone profess their love for The Emperor’s New Groove, or cite Atlantis as one of Disney’s most
underrated movies. For our money, we have mixed feelings regarding this era. Don’t get it twisted,
there’s a lot to love about the Experimental Era. Movies like Lilo and Stitch, Atlantis,
and The Emperor’s New Groove are all among some of Disney’s most underappreciated movies.
You also have to give credit to this era for living up to its name. The Experimental Era was
truly experimental, giving it a feeling unlike any other period in the studios' history. None
of these films feel like the Disney of today would make them, and there’s a lot of appeal in that.
However, we’d be lying if we said this era was all sunshine and lollipops. While a lot of the films
were definitely great, there were as many that were…let’s just say not great? Movies like Chicken
Little and Home on the Range are some of their absolute weakest films, and taint the whole era
in our eyes. We also felt that, in their attempt to find a new image for themselves, they kind of
lost that Disney magic. Some of their movies, like the aforementioned Chicken Little, felt more like
Disney trying to chase trends instead of carving an interesting path forward for themselves. When
you watch that film, it’s impossible to not think of it as Disney’s answer to the many Dreamworks
blockbusters of that time. So, while we do enjoy a lot of Disney’s output during this time,
we can also understand why many of the movies aren’t totally looked back as classics.
Coming back to Disney’s modern era for a minute, it seems the two most beloved properties this era
has given us are Frozen and Tangled. Being that the two feature princesses, musical numbers,
and more, the two are often compared quite frequently. When this happens, you usually
hear people say that Tangled is better than Frozen. These people will cite the characters,
songs, and overall story of Tangled as having been better executed than they were in Frozen.
Count us among this group, as we also agree that Tangled is better than Frozen.
Tangled is a far more enjoyable watch from start to finish than its icy counterpart is.
The characters of Rapunzel and Flynn have a lot more natural chemistry than pretty much
any of the pairings in Frozen, and we feel the film’s overall story is a lot less predictable
than Tangled’s is. Tangled’s story isn’t super shocking or anything like that, but it does take
a few more twists than Frozen’s does. We also think the villain of Tangled, Mother Gothel, is
a lot more formidable and intimidating than Hans ever was. And if we have to talk about sidekicks,
we’re taking Pascal over Olaf all day, every day! Frozen isn’t even close to being a bad movie, but
it does get kind of dry and dull after the first few rewatches. That isn’t even remotely true of
Tangled, which is great no matter how many times you’ve watched it. While we enjoy both
movies greatly, when push comes to shove, we have to go with Corona over Arendelle!
While both Frozen and Tangled remain popular, one Disney film that has had quite the journey
is Hercules. Though it’s a favorite of the generation who watched it as children,
there is a noticeable percentage of people who see Hercules as one of Disney’s worst films.
Even a look at the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score will show you that it’s not quite one of Disney’s
most well-received films. However, we intensely disagree with this opinion. We’ll even go as far
as to say Hercules is one of Disney’s best films! The film definitely doesn’t match the expected
feel and look of a Disney classic, this is what makes the film so great in our eyes. The art
style of the movie, the way the musical numbers are presented, and the overall aesthetic feel
unique to this movie. There isn’t a Disney movie made before or since this one that is anything
like it. The characters are also very unlike the typical archetypes presented in Disney movies.
Megara might be something of a damsel in distress, but her sharp personality is unique to her and her
alone. We also think the film’s unique feel has made the movie stand out more and more as the
years go by. In a time when Disney was following an extremely rigid formula, Hercules’ reinvention
of its archetypes made it feel like the odd man out. Nowadays, however, Disney has mostly shed
that particular formula, making Hercules seem like not nearly the outcast it once was. Now,
it’s seen as a great reinvention of a formula that was starting to show its age. If you thought you
didn’t like Hercules, well guess again! There’s never been a better time to bust out that dusty
VHS copy and give it a rewatch. Who knows, you might just see in it exactly what we see!
One of the more contentious debates regarding Disney movies surrounds the classic archetype
of the sidekick. In Disney movies, these characters tend to be talking animals,
act as comic relief, and are slapped all over the merchandise for their respective movie.
While almost every one of Disney’s movies has them, they aren’t the most popular aspect of
the movies in the eyes of Disney fans. A lot of fans believe that every single Disney sidekick is
annoying. They see them as little more than walking toy advertisements; an element of
the movie that wasn’t included because the creator wanted them in, but because Disney
executives feel every movie needs them. While we think there is some truth to this opinion,
we’re a little mixed on this ourselves. There have definitely been some Disney movies where the
sidekicks felt shoehorned in. Probably the most egregious example is The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
where the gargoyles feel completely at odds with the more realistic and serious nature
of the story. However, there are also a lot of Disney movies where the sidekicks felt right
at home. Timon and Pumbaa were perfect in The Lion King, and we cannot imagine a version of the movie
without those two in it. You also have the Genie in Aladdin, Pascal in Tangled, and Sebastian in
The Little Mermaid, to name a few of the more memorable sidekicks from the films. Really,
the inclusion of sidekicks itself isn’t the problem. It just comes down to how they are used
at the end of the day. All of these characters had the potential to feel unnecessary and forced,
but many of them are just as iconic as the protagonists they followed around. You just
need a great mind at the helm to mold a familiar archetype into something truly entertaining.
When Walt Disney was still running things, he was notorious for one particular rule he had
regarding his films: no sequels! Even all these years after his death, you can count on one hand
the number of legitimate sequels Disney has made to their theatrical films. This has led many to
believe that Disney should not make any sequels whatsoever. The fans who believe this tend to
not just dislike the direct-to-video sequels that were all the rage throughout the 90s and 2000s,
but they also dislike the “official sequels”, like Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen 2. However,
we have to disagree with this stance. While we aren’t the biggest fans of the aforementioned
movies, we think sequels can and should exist in Disney films. We don’t think a Cinderella 2
or a Snow White 2 should be in the cards, but we do think a second Tangled or Big Hero Six could
be a lot of fun. They aren’t the most original concept, but there are some great things you can
do with a sequel. A sequel can deepen the worlds and characters introduced in the first film,
give us some new characters and concepts, and even make us look at what came before in a whole
new light. As we mentioned earlier, they can also let the creators embark on completely uncharted
territory. They won’t have a familiar formula or fairytale to jump from, and will have to
essentially create a story from scratch. That’s really exciting in our eyes. And if the sequels
don’t measure up? That’s fine, because we’ll still always have the original. Overall, while we don’t
want to see Disney turn into some sort of sequel machine, we think there are a lot of merits to
making a sequel that keeps us from thinking the whole concept is some sort of fruitless endeavor.
We’re wrapping this video up with what might be the most popular of all unpopular Disney opinions!
That, of course, is the opinion that the Disney live-action remakes don’t need to be made. Many
Disney diehards believe it's fine to leave these films alone as their original animated versions,
and by making these editions, they are only entertaining the idea that
animation is a lesser form of art. On this opinion, we agree with a ridiculous amount.
Though we don’t dislike all of Disney’s remakes, we stay firm in the belief that all of them feel
completely unnecessary. Why sink so much money into remakes when all they’ll ever be
is pale imitations of the classics? We know the main market for these movies is simply nostalgia,
but at that point, why not simply re-release the originals into theaters? It would cost a lot less,
and we’re sure some money could be made from them. Really, the main problem with these adaptations is
that they show you just how versatile animation is compared to live-action. They unintentionally
show you how restricting live-action can be in a way animation never is. Take The Lion King for
example. The live-action version is so focused on realism that the animals never feel as alive
or expressive as their animated counterparts do. All this isn’t to say that there aren’t
good live-action adaptations of cartoons. The Scooby-Doo films and Speed Racer were excellent
at adapting their animated counterparts, but they managed to capture the spirit and essence of the
source material in a way these Disney remakes never have. Maybe this will all change one day,
but for now, we think we could go the rest of our lives without seeing another Disney remake!
But let us know in the comment section if you agree or disagree with our opinions.
And tell us what we should cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell
and binge more of our videos. But most importantly, stay wicked.