10 Worst Disney Sequels (Ranked According To IMDb)

It’s no secret that Disney is kind of a powerhouse when it comes to the production of high-quality animated entertainment. The movies they’ve made, particularly during the Renaissance, are widely (and rightly) regarded as some of the best movies of the decade of the 1990s.

Unfortunately, beginning in the late 1990s and continuing through the early 2000s, they decided to pump out a bunch of sequels many of which, as the users of the Internet Movie Database have shown pretty clearly, were of significantly inferior quality, especially compared to the artistic accomplishments of the original movies.

10 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2: The Secret of the Bell (2002) – 4.7

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is regarded as one of the best films to come out of the Disney Renaissance since it dealt with some heavy themes not usual in family entertainment. Unfortunately, it ended up with the hero Quasimodo not having a romantic happy ending.

The sequel attempts to fix that problem but, because of the inferior quality of the story and the animation, it ends up falling more than a little flat and not even coming close to the success of the original. 

9 Pocahontas 2 (1998) – 4.9

The original movie Pocahontas was a bit of a miss in some ways for Disney, for a number of reasons (not the least of which was its truly outrageous twisting of history).

That didn’t stop them from producing a sequel, which depicts Pocahontas’ journey to England with the man who would eventually become her husband in real life, John Rolfe. Like its predecessor, it takes some pretty substantial liberties with the historical record, and it lacks most of the charm of the original. 

8 Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True (2001) – 5

In fairy tales, the phrase “happily ever after” usually suggests a pretty definite ending, but apparently Disney didn’t get the memo, and so it subjected viewers to this movie, one of several sequels to the classic Cinderella.

While the animation is decent enough, the narrative is quite disjointed, consisting as it does of several stories that are pulled together by a rather weak framing device. Most viewers would probably rather just watch the original movie and skip this one altogether.

7 Atlantis: Milo’s Return (2003) – 5.1

As with Cinderella, it’s clear that this movie was intended to be a television series but was instead cobbled together. This wouldn’t be a problem in and of itself, but unfortunately, it just doesn’t quite hold together.

What’s more, since the original movie wasn’t that great of a success either, it really makes one wonder why they even bothered making a sequel that lacked any of the animated wonders that was one of the first movie’s saving graces. 

6 The Fox and the Hound 2 (2006) – 5.3

The Fox and the Hound is one of the more mature movies that Disney produced in the 1980s, dealing as it does with the heavy issue of prejudice and the inability of some people to ever see past surfaces. The ending was incredibly satisfying, but apparently, someone at Disney decided that it, too, needed a sequel, and the result is this movie.

It’s not technically a sequel, taking place as it does in the youth of Tod and Copper. However, despite some good voice acting from Reba McEntire and Patrick Swayze, it never comes close to living up to the original. 

5 Tarzan and Jane (2002) – 5.3

Let’s be real. Tarzan has a deserved reputation for being the last movie of the Renaissance, and it’s a far cry from the ones that preceded it. However, it was apparently just successful enough for the powers that be to give the greenlight to several sequels, including this one.

It’s basically some cobbled together episodes of the TV show of the same name. It’s entertaining enough, but it really doesn’t ever rise above being simple children’s entertainment. 

4 Belle’s Magical World (1998) – 5.3

Beauty and the Beast has gone down as one of the best movies of the Renaissance, attaining levels of artistic maturity and elegance that are very rare indeed in animation (even for Disney). Unfortunately, this didn’t keep it from having its own fair share of moderately awful sequels, including this one.

Like many of the other sequels, it’s basically a stitched together composite, and while most of the voice cast did return, that doesn’t really help it become other than subpar entertainment.

3 The Jungle Book 2 (2003) – 5.4

For some reason, Disney wasn’t content to produce sequels to their Renaissance hits; instead, they continued to dip deep into the catalog. The result is a whole spate of sequels to their old classics, including this one, a sequel to The Jungle Book.

Even though this one did receive a theatrical release (unfortunately), the animation is not what one would expect from a theatrical picture, and the story is far too similar to the original to be really worth a watch.

2 The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000) – 5.6

It’s hard not to feel some frustration with Disney for sabotaging the legacy of their own valuable product with terrible sequels, but they didn’t seem to get the memo.

Though The Little Mermaid 2 isn’t absolutely terrible, it’s one of those cases where one can’t quite figure out why this movie was made, other than as an effort on the part of the studio to get more money from their existing properties without having to come up with new and exciting ideas. 

1 Tarzan 2: The Legend Begins (2005) – 5.6

As if Tarzan and Jane weren’t enough, viewers were also subjected to Tarzan 2: The Legend Begins. Despite its title, it’s not really a sequel so much as it is a prequel, showing viewers more of what happened to Tarzan during his youth.

Even though it does have the voice of Glenn Close as Kala, that’s not really enough to save this movie from the sort of mediocrity that affected pretty much every sequel (with a few notable exceptions). 

About The Author