Walt Disney Animation Studios has been one of the premiere animation studios for a hundred years worth of unforgettable and mesmerizing animated stories of magic and wonder. They have released a multitude of iconic and groundbreaking animation masterpieces over the years, including the likes ofCinderella,The Lion King,Beauty and the Beast, andFrozen. However, especially after 100 years of filmmaking, not every film released by the studio has been a massive critical success, with several films even falling well below the critical bar of quality.
Whether they were films that failed to find their audience upon their original release, disappointing follow-ups to masterpiece originals, or simply not up to the level of quality expected, there have been many Disney misfires over the years. While far from the only quantitative way to measure them, the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer does a great job at showing exactly which theatrical Disney films were the biggest misfires among critics.
10’Wish' (2023)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50%
The latest film from Disney and meant to celebrate 100 years of animation filmmaking,Wishfollows the story of sharp-witted idealist Asha, who makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a powerful star in the sky. Joined by her new cosmic companion, Asha attempts to have her wish fulfilled, although faces the powerful foe of King Magnifico on her path to victory. Asha’s goals and ideals soon prove themselves to have higher and higher stakes, as the entire city of Rosas soon becomes at risk of Magnifico’s wrath.
WhileWishtries its best to be a love letter to Disney’s history withan array of Easter eggs, references, and callbacksto previous films,Wishdoes very little to make itself stand out on its own merits. The film simply doesn’t come close to the infectious and energizing power of Disney’s other musicals, with the majority of the featured songs being incredibly forgettable. The film also features an animation style that doesn’t go all the way with its storybook aesthetic and feels like nothing more than a simple filter slapped on Disney’s standard 3D animation style.
Wish follows a young girl named Asha who wishes on a star and gets a more direct answer than she bargained for when a trouble-making star comes down from the sky to join her.
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9’Atlantis: The Lost Empire' (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49%
Atlantis: The Lost Empirefollows the story of a crew of highly qualified archaeologists and explorers as they travel into the deep ocean to discover the mysteries of the sea. Led by historian Milo Thatch, the expedition soon takes an unexpected turn when the crew uncovers the ancient lost city of Atlantis, complete with a thriving civilization that had been living there all this time. However, their insurmountable find doesn’t come without its own consequences, as the crew soon finds themselves having to protect the city of Atlantis from a dangerous threat.
While the film may be consideredan underrated cult classic nowadays,the film was a massive critical and financial failure at the box office, majorly disappointing in numerous ways. The film notoriously hada highly troubled and chaotic productionthat resulted in a relatively cluttered and unpolished final product of a film, a far cry from the standard of Disney at the time. While this more authentic and unpolished style of storytelling and characters has its die-hard fans and defenders, the critics of the time were not fans ofAtlantisin the slightest.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
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8’Return to Never Land' (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 45%
Acting as the sequel to the original classicPeter Panreleased almost 50 years later,Return to Never Landsees an all-grown-up Wendy recounting the stories of Peter Pan to her own two children. One of these children, Jane, is highly skeptical of these whimsical stories of Peter Pan and Never Land, which all changes when Peter returns to give Jane an adventure akin to her mother so long ago.
While many Disney sequels of this era were more often than not simply reserved for VHS and DVD releases,Return to Never Landwas one of the few exceptions that found itself getting a theatrical release. However, this doesn’t necessarily make this film much more exceptional than the other Disney legacy sequels,as it does very little other than retread the same ground as the original in a new coat of paint. The film, however, does still hold a surprising legacy nowadays asone of the most often forgotten Disney sequels.
7’Planes: Fire & Rescue' (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 44%
The often-forgotten sequel to the already often-forgottenCarsspinoff,Planes: Fire & Rescuefollows world-famous air racer Dusty, who learns that his damaged engine means he may never race again. Dusty then finds himself shifting gears and careers entirely as he decides to join the world of aerial firefighting, joining forces with veteran rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his team to become a true Fire and Rescue plane. The missions prove themselves to be highly dangerous as Dusty attempts to prove that he still has what it takes to be a true hero.
Critics were already highly hit or miss on theCarsfranchise as a whole, so it makes sense that they would be equally dismissive towards the spinoffPlanesfranchise, which blatantly only served to exist to sell toys.Fire & Rescuespecifically does extremely little to entertain outside the youngest of audience members,being too flat and formulaic for anyone older to find enjoyment in. While many still see it as a slight improvement over the first film, the film is still about as dull as it gets when it comes to children’s animated movies.
Planes: Fire & Rescue
6’Bambi II' (2006)
A sequel to one of Disney’s earliest and greatest movies,Bambi IIcame out 64 years after the original and sees Bambi reuniting with his father, The Great Prince (voiced byPatrick Stewart). The Great Prince now sees himself tasked with raising Bambi on his own, where the duo soon embark on the adventure of a lifetime. However, he soon discovers that instead of teaching and imbuing knowledge upon his son, there is a great deal that he himself can learn from Bambi.
WhileBambi IIdidn’t find itself in theaters in the United States, the film did receive an actual theatrical release internationally,earning almost $35 million worldwide. Much like many of the other sequels to Disney classics, Bambi II does little in terms of original additions to the original story, and instead only serves to repeat and reuse scenes and moments from the original. While the film is still considered to beone of the better of the Disney sequels, its quality still massive falters when compared to the legacy and power of the original, which still holds up to this day.
In this straight-to-home-release Disney animation sequel, young deer Bambi reunites with his father, the Great Prince, who teaches him the ways of the forest. As Bambi and his father reconnects, the iconic Disney character teaches his elder his own lessons.
5’Brother Bear' (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 37%
Brother Bearfollows the story of an impulsive young boy named Kenai, who is magically transformed into a bear and must literally walk in the footsteps of his enemy until he learns a valuable life lesson. His travels and journey across the wildlife forest soon finds him in the company of a lovable bear cub named Koda, well well a numerous other wildlife creatures to keep him company as he searches for answers.
Brother Bearwas seen by many to bethe end of an era for Disney as a whole, with its unassuming demeanor and simplistic story beinga far cry from the inventive and groundbreaking work Disney was making before this point. While the film does attempt to have its powerful emotional moments, the vast majority of them are undermined by an increasing focus on annoying side characters, and a lackluster story. The film certainly has its fans, but it’s a film that failed to make a mark with critics of the time.
Brother Bear
Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) is a young Indian brave with a particular distaste for bears. When his brother Sitka (D.B. Sweeney) is killed by one, Kenai in turn kills the bear, only to be magically transformed into one himself. To make matters worse, his other brother Denahi (Jason Raize) vows to kill the bear Kenai has become. Kenai’s only hope is a magical mountain where he believes he can be changed back to a human, and he enlists a real bear cub, Koda, to get him there.
4’Chicken Little' (2005)
One ofDisney’s first CGI-animated movies,Chicken Littlefollows the story of the titular young underdog as he throws his town into a small panic after being convinced that the sky is falling. It ends up being a misunderstanding, and Chicken Little soon becomes the laughingstock of the town, but it becomes all the more terrifying when Chicken Little discovers the beginnings of an alien invasion. Despite nobody in the town believing him, he and his crew of misfits must band together to save their town from an alien takeover.
While the film certainly paved the way for the eventual great success that Disney would have with CGI-animated movies, there were a myriad of issues that made the film a miss for critics of the time.From the unappealing character designs to the pop culture-focused humor to unlikeable characters,Chicken Littlequickly became one of Disney’s most infamous releases among critics. While the film certainly has its defenders, it also equally has as many people who consider the film to be the worst film that Disney has ever created.
Chicken Little
3’Doug’s 1st Movie' (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 28%
The feature film adaptation of the massively successful 90s cartoon,Doug’s 1st Moviefollows the story of Doug and his pal Skeeter as they set out to find the monster of Lucky Duck Lake. While the duo are initially hesitant that they will actually find anything, things become much more complicated when they actually find the monster. However, the monster proves itself to be much kinder and harmless than assumed, but that doesn’t stop the town from being terrified at the prospect of a monster from the lake.
Doug’s 1st Moviewould mark the beginning of a number of theatrical versions of popular Disney Channel cartoons, following the success of films likeThe Rugrats Movie. While movies likeRecess: School’s OutandTeacher’s Petwould find success with critics,Doug’s 1st Moviewould only find disdain and harsh words from critics. Critics were quick to lambaste the film’s highly bare and cheap execution,feeling less like a theatrical experience and more like an extended episode of the show, very transparently seeing the release as just a quick cash grab.
2’Planes' (2013)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 25%
The initial spinoff film of theCarsfranchise,Planesfollows the story of Dusty, a cropdusting plane with big dreams of competing in a famous aerial race. However, Dusty has a massive hurdle to overcome before he can join the racing league, his massive fear of heights. With the help of his mentor Skipper and a collection of new friends, Dusty sets off on a journey to make his massive dreams come true.
Even as far as spinoffs go, there were far too many similarities storywise betweenPlanesand the firstCarsfilm to give the film anything close to an identity of its own to attach to. From the very first seconds ofPlanes,it’s apparent that the film serves no purpose other than to sell toys, attempting to further add to the massive merchandising success of theCarsfranchise. The film symbolizes a massively low bar for Disney, and genuinely sports a bad name for the numerous othergreat plane moviesout there.
Disney’s Planes
1’The Jungle Book 2' (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 18%
A sequel to the all-time classic released 36 years after the original,The Jungle Book 2sees Mowgli living in the man-village with his little stepbrother Ranjan and his best friend Shanti. However, he still has the jungle rhythm in his heart and misses his friends Baloo and Bagheera, so he wanders back into the wild for some more adventures and escapades in the jungle. However, he is soon discovered by the terrifying tiger Shere Khan, lurking in the shadows and planning his revenge on Mowgli.
More than all the other classic Disney sequels,The Jungle Book 2may just be the most blatant and transparent copying and pasting of the original film with absolute minimum effort.The sequel shares very little in terms of actual original content, which makes it all the more jarring that it was one of the few Disney sequels that received a full wide theatrical release. While the film was able to entertain theatrical audiences of the time and earn$186 million worldwide, critics only saw it for the cheap and lazy cash grab that it was.
