Disney Movie Eras: Disney Movie Toons and Direct to Video Part 2
This month continues a new series of blogs for fans of popular culture. Whereas in the past explorations of Walt Disney films we highlighted individual works, we will now be talking about the larger groupings of movies, and the various artistic and commercial visions sought for and achieved from said movies.
A quick run though of the eras:
The Golden Age: 1937-1941
Wartime: 1942-1949
The Silver Age: 1950-1967
The Bronze Age: 1968-1988
The Renaissance: 1989-1999
Post-Renaissance: 2000-2009
Revival: 2010-Present
As you can see, the various eras are inspired by historical art movements over the year, as well as comic books. You can draw the parallel, for instance, between the Italian Renaissance, or between the iterated variations of popular superheroes like Batman and Superman.
We will also be covering Disney live action films. The list of films owned by the Walt Disney Corporation is quite expansive because it includes multiple studios and production companies, such as Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, and more. And for good measure, we will also cover animated films that released without the official Walt Disney Pictures branding, as well as films that only released via television or Disney +.
So buckle up everyone as we retread the Disney films of years passed:
Disney kicked it into high gear with even more films after 2000. While most of these went straight to VHS and DVD, a few made it to theaters! The primary connecting factor is that all of these films were handled by one of Disney's subsidiary studios. Most of them were animated outside the United States, and none of them are considered part of the main catalog of official Walt Disney Pictures.
Before we get properly started, one honorable mention goes out to Hercules: Zero to Hero, opens a new window. We're not going to talk about that one, because it's not even really a movie, just a collection of episodes from the Hercules television show, rearranged to form a new plot. And now, moving on!
Kicking off the year was the first of the Winnie the Pooh series of movies. The first one, released in the 1970s, was a collection of shorts that had been strung together with an overarching storybook narrative. This film marked the first wholly original, feature-length film. It ended up being quite successful, leading to further theatrical releases for Pooh Bear.
Disney's An Extremely Goofy Movie
This follow-up served as a bit of a post script to the Goofy television series. Released after the first film, a now adult Max is off to college, shortly followed by his father who must retrain to stay employable. You can imagine how the plot goes from there. Also, a huge tie-in with the X-Games and ESPN, both also owned by Disney.
The next film turned out to be the effectual pilot of Pixar's first television series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. The show was effectively pitched as a popular cartoon that Andy from Toy Story may have watched, based on his toy Buzz Lightyear. The show ran for 62 episodes, with the title character now being portrayed by Patrick Warburton.
2000's final entry released just a few weeks later. Return to the Sea was a sequel to The Little Mermaid, featuring most of the cast returning, along with Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody, a few new friends, and Ursula's wicked sister.
Disney's sequels tend to follow a certain track record, inverting the original story. Here, Lady and the Tramp's son wants to be a wild dog, where he falls in love with a female stray who wants to become a pet in the end. Sound familiar?
Disney had a little more faith in Return to Neverland, which earned a coveted theatrical release. The story is quite familiar, featuring Wendy's daughter Jane, twenty years or so later, who gets kidnapped and taken to Neverland, but wants nothing to do with it initially.
This one's an anthology film, featuring a few shorts tied together by a narrative. In this case, the Fairy Godmother and mice are telling misadventures about Cinderella's new life as a princess.
Hunchback of Notre Dame II is notable for being one of the worst received Disney film sequels. It's easy to see why. Compared to the original film, the animation is a big step down, the music is mediocre, and the story is... questionable. It's not a bad film, really, just very disappointing considering how good the first film was.
For New Year 2002, Disney released this short film, featuring an episode of the 90s Winnie the Pooh cartoon and a new short.
Disney was releasing a lot of Dalmatian content in the early 2000s. This sequel to the 1961 film showed an alternative take on how the story proceeded. Unlike 102 Dalmatians (which we will discuss in a future blog), this was a truly direct sequel to the 1961 film.
Disney released another of their sequels to theaters, but this one did not enjoy the reception that Return to Neverland got. The Jungle Book 2 benefited from the voice talents of John Goodman, Haley Joel Osment, Tony Jay, and even Phil Collins, but it just wasn't quite up to snuff.
Back in theaters again, Pooh and the gang play second fiddle to Piglet! Released in 2003, this was yet another successful Winnie the Pooh film, while other Disney sequels were floundering.
Atlantis: Milo's Return falls under that esteemed category of TV series pilots that the studio didn't feel confident enough green lighting. Much like Belle's Magical World, Milo's Return stitches together three separate adventures with an overarching narrative. Most of the cast returns, with the notable exception of James Arnold Taylor replacing Michael J. Fox as Milo.
Perhaps one of the most interesting films in Disney's catalog, The Lion King 1 and a Half follows Timon and Pumbaa, recounting their version of the familiar movie, with personal recollections of what they were doing at the time. The film is cast in a similar light to another popular Shakespeare-inspired work, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Seeing as the original film is framed as a retelling of Hamlet, this is a very appropriate comparison. The film feels a bit stronger than other outings at least.
Despite their general success, Disney decided this next film set in the Hundred Acre Woods would not grace theaters. Springtime with Roo follows the title character in his delightful romp in the spring.
Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas
In a similar vein, Disney released another Christmas film, following mostly the same characters as Once Upon a Christmas. The main difference here is all of the animation is CG now. We even get to see Scrooge McDuck again!
Did I mention there were a lot of films released? For Mickey's 75th birthday, the studio planned and released this film, featuring the mouse, Donald, and Goofy as the titular characters. It's a loose adaptation of the Dumas work, but it was a success nonetheless.
What happens after happily ever after? The less commonly used trend of exploring popular Disney movie adaptations after their story ended is the basis for Mulan 2, in much the same manner as with Hunchback of Notre Dame 2. Unlike with the earlier film, this actually works in Mulan 2's case, providing happy endings for Mulan's friends and resolution to Mulan and Shang's relationship. No Eddie Murphy though.
Disney returned to theaters for yet another movie, this time exploring the mystery of Heffalumps.
Tarzan 2 falls into that category of interesting midquels that explore what certain characters were like earlier in their films. In this case, a young Tarzan is trying to find out what kind of animals he is, if he isn't a gorilla. Gorilla or not, he still finds acceptance.
The Heffalump movie was reasonably successful, but Disney decided not to bring its sequel back to theaters. Here the gang has a fun Halloween adventure.
The placement of this film is curious. While Lilo and Stitch 2 was released in 2005, it actually chronologically takes place before 2003's Stitch! The Movie. Stitch! serves as the effective pilot for a Lilo and Stitch television series, and we'll talk more about that later. This film takes place before the events of the series. Most of the cast is here, save for Lilo's voice. The actress was busy with school and acting in the television series, so for this film, the company cast Dakota Fanning in her place.
Phew, that was a lot. 22 films down, and still more to cover! We'll get back to the Direct to Video stuff in the future, but stay tuned next time when we cover the Disney Channel Original Movies.
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