When was the last time there was a true Disney movie — not a sequel, a live-action, or from another studio — that received overwhelming kudos from the audience?
Disney notoriously makes unnecessary sequels and live-actions of their well-loved movies until it leaves a bitter taste in their viewers’ mouths and destroys nostalgia connected to the original film. Sequels like “Aladdin: The Return of Jafar” (1994) and repetitive live-actions such as “Snow White ” (2025) bring down the Walt Disney Company’s creative magic.
“Aladdin” (1992), “The Lion King” (1994) and “The Little Mermaid” (1989) are examples of popular Disney movies that had two sequels and a live-action counterpart. For instance, “Aladdin” (1992) received an 8/10 stars, while “The Return of Jafar” (1994) received a 5.8/10 stars according to the IMDb ratings.
I have watched all the originals, along with one of their sequel films, and was quite disappointed by the quality of the continuation movies. Not only did the animation become worse, but their storylines were lackluster, full of plot holes, and had weak explanations for issues that you would not find in the originals.
Moreover, unlike the originals, the additional films don’t honor the fairy tales that the Disney animated films were inspired by. For example, “Aladdin” (1992)was inspired by the ancient “1001 Arabian Nights”— a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian folktales often referred to as “a cornerstone of world literature” because of its rich cultural diversity, according to the article “One Thousand and One Nights: History and Major Facts” by World History Edu. However, “The Return of Jafar” (1994) is full of animation that cuts a lot of the details of textures, shadows, and expressive facial expressions.
It especially feels like these films came across as a weak excuse to make more money off of the popular, more detail-oriented originals because of their subpar explanations of conflict.
Additionally, Disney animated versions should not try to extend the storylines of these folk tales because of their lack of attention and care. When I watched “Hercules” (1997), I was amazed by the animation and enjoyed how Hercules got his happy ending, unlike his mythological counterpart. Thus, I decided to watch “Hercules: The Animated Series” (1998) out of curiosity, and it shocked me. The changes of voice actors, the unfinished animations, and the unrealistic plotlines ruined my nostalgia of the original.
Disney ought to learn quality over quantity to make better movies — the more you mess with a masterpiece, the further it’ll stray from its original glory.
