Mulan 2

[TDC Blue Fairy]

Well, now, its quite true that live action sequels were done.....but there were no ANIMATED sequels in Walt's day.....in fact, to my knowledge, I think that the first animated movie to have a sequel is The Rescuers.....feel free to correct me if I am wrong. If I remember correctly, The Rescuers was released in 1977, so that is not even a story that was in development when Walt died. I have no problem whatsoever with sequels to movies that were made after Walt's death....they do not carry his touch, and I honestly believe that there are a few of them that have been done well. But I still think that there are some things that should not be messed with. Cinderella, Peter Pan, Snow White, Dumbo, as well as many, many others, were left to our imagination when the credits rolled, and to me, creating a sequel is kind of like Disney telling me that this is what happily ever after HAS to be like, and that is something that should be left to each of us to decide. Its kind of Big Brotherish to me, I guess. Just my opinion, yours may vary

 

[Mulan]

Like Douglas, I enjoyed Rescuers Down Under more than the original. But Pocahantas 2 STUNK. IMO, all the direct-to-video sequels are BAD. Toy Story 2 was supposed to be direct to video, but was shaping up so well that they decided to make it a theatrical film. That was an exception. All the others have been just terrible. Some are okay at best.

I have seen quite a few of them out of curiosity, but I prefer to view them as just a made-up story that takes place after the original. I don't see them as what really happened to our beloved characters. Granted, Pocahantas 2 tried to stay at least closer to what really happened to the real Pocahontas. But after seeing the original film and getting to know the film characters, I felt Pocahontas 2 totally betrayed a lot of the characters, especially John Smith. But I digress . . .

If they can make the sequels entertaining and high quality, then great! But their track record is not encouraging.

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

Mulan, you captured my thoughts exactly. My largest issue with most of the sequels of RECENT movies is that they have been awful and betrayed the characters. If they had been done with care and with stories that made sense, I would be looking forward to more of them. (Rescuers 2 and TS2 were wonderful exceptions)

I have no objection to sequels in general.

It's when the sequels are clearly cheap "Let's make some quick cash" flicks that I get really upset.

I will say it again...I expect more from Disney. They built their brand up in my head to a level where they could do nothing wrong. I loved the brand and have closely followed the company for years.

Also, there are some brand icons that just should never be touched.

In my company, Tricon Global Restaurants, one of our brands is KFC. A few years ago, they tried to bring back the founder (dead for 20 years), Co. Sanders, in commercials by using an actor. They received TENS OF THOUSANDS of letters complaining that they had not shown enough respect for his memory.

They quickly yanked the campaign. Now they use a cartoon character that is clearly not supposed to be taken seriously as a spokesperson.

Imagine if Disney hired an actor to play Walt, and had him introduce films on TV or do commercials for Disney World vacations. People would absolutely freak out.

Well that is the same reaction that I have to Dumbo 2, Snow White 2, Bambi 2, etc. These are icons that should never be touched. The newer characters haven't achieved the same level of "Classic" perception. Use them if you like, but stay true to the characters and spend the resources to do it correctly please, Disney.

 

[The Hunt]

As bad as some of the sequels have been, they are still superior to the vast majority of kids' video product--I guess that's why they sell. I actually liked the first Beauty and the Beast sequel (or maybe it was a "midquel" because it took place in the middle of the first movie's story). I think it's called Belle's Enchanted Christmas or something like that. I also thought the sequel to Lion King was decent. I question the idea of a sequel to something like Snow White, because I can't believe they'll take the effort to match the style of the original.

As far as Bambi, the author of Bambi wrote a sequel to the first book. And didn't J.M. Barrie write a sequel to Peter Pan? Of course, I doubt if Disney's sequels will have anything to do with those books.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

"Pocahantas 2 STUNK. . . Granted, Pocahantas 2 tried to stay at least closer to what really happened to the real Pocahontas."

I think that's why I liked it better - that and that it didn't have all the "rocks have spirits" stuff of the first.

"As bad as some of the sequels have been, they are still superior to the vast majority of kids' video product--I guess that's why they sell."

I'll take Lady and the Tramp 2 over Rugrats in Paris or a Pokemon movie any day.

"As far as Bambi, the author of Bambi wrote a sequel to the first book. And didn't J.M. Barrie write a sequel to Peter Pan? "

Bring on the Tarzan sequels! After all, ERB wrote 24 of those.

 

[The Hunt]

"Bring on the Tarzan sequels! After all, ERB wrote 24 of those."

Some of them are pretty cool, too. If they did "Tarzan at the Earth's Core," we could have Tarzan AND dinosaurs.

 

[Mulan]

"Pocahantas 2 STUNK. . . Granted, Pocahantas 2 tried to stay at least closer to what really happened to the real Pocahontas."

I think that's why I liked it better - that and that it didn't have all the "rocks have spirits" stuff of the first.

I think my reaction to Pocahontas 2 had more to do with the original film itself, not the real-life people both films were loosely based on. Within the context of only the original Pocahontas film, I felt that Pocahontas 2 was a disappointment, particularly regarding the Pocahontas-John Smith love story. Those characters were portrayed as the loves of each other's lives in the original. When they went their separate ways in the sequel, it was like Snow White and Prince Charming realizing that they really weren't meant for each other. At least, that's what it felt like to me. Also, the music in the original is so far superior. "Just Around the River Bend" is one of my all time faves. As you can tell, I really liked Pocahontas 1.

 

[NativeAtlantean]

remember the disney company originally slotted toy story 2 for a

direct-to-vdeo release, but they thought it was so good that it

deseved to be released theatrically, so Peter Pan 2 must not be all

that bad.