1. Backwards Moving Protagonists.....
While not a very common attribute for these films, five of these films (which are sequels to their four greatest films and one that is meh) suffer from this factor, and it is my main issue for the films. Instead of showing progress from their first films, these characters fall backwards into situations that hinder their overall development in place of lazy storytelling.
1A. Return of Jafar
Upon discovering Iago has returned and possibly reformed from his days as Jafar's minion, Aladdin's default idea is to hide the parrot from Jasmine and the Sultan. Why? Why not just go up to Jasmine and tell her he found Iago in Agrabah and that he promises to reform. Why do you have to lie, after you blatantly lied to both of Agrabah's lead officials about your identity in the last film and ultimately allowed Jafar to rise to power in the first place? It forwards the first act of an otherwise sub-par sequel and sets up the act for Jafar's plan.
While Aladdin does in fact also lie to Jasmine and the Sultan in the third film, it works because after he broke the law and busted Cassim out of prison, he returned to Agrabah to take responsibility for his actions. But in the first film? There is no reason in the world to have your main protagonist (who learned to be himself in the last film) to just go right back into lying, even when you now have the Sultan and Jasmine on your side.
1B. Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Here's a recap of what had happened before the events of this movie: Belle's father is imprisoned in the Beast's dungeon and is only released when Belle agrees to take his place. After butting heads for much of the next few scenes, Beast rescues Belle from a pack of wolves and the two become friends.
In the first film, Belle was able to negate "Stockholm Syndrome" by leaving the instant the Beast lets her go to her sick father. But here, she is still a prisoner to the easily angered Beast and is constantly yelled and bullied by him. You would think that this paragraph would be about the Beast. But no, it's about Belle, who transforms into some kind of demented hybrid of life coach and reclamation project fixer. Belle, who in the original wouldn't have taken any of the Beast's nonsense, decides to try to show the Beast the "Christmas Spirit", to which he grumpily rejects, until he learns Belle gave him a present. WHAT?! When the F*** did he ever deserve a present? When? Was it when he threw his hissy fit in the West Wing, or was it when he imprisoned an old man in the ice cold dungeon?
Belle...if you think the Beast was good enough to earn a present, then you should have married Gaston, because they were one and the same person! The Beast was the one who should have gotten her a present, which he does attempt to do, but Belle has no reason in the world to give this spoiled brat a gift. She only warmed up to him when he stopped being a complete ass to her.
1C. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
One of the few flaws Mufasa ever made as King of the Pridelands, which ultimately came back to bite him in the rear end, was his banishment of the hyenas. This caused a great deal of discontent in the savannah and gave Scar the opportunity he needed to dethrone his brother and take over.
One would think that Simba would have learned from the lessons his father taught him and keep the Circle of Life balanced and not messy. But we find out in this movie that Simba had banished a group of lionesses from his pride and to land that would make the Hyenas leap for joy that the Elephant Graveyard was plentiful. Why did he do this? Because they liked Scar more than him? What does that show about our protagonist? That he is more worried about his reputation over his kingdom? Now does Kiara's line hold water: "You will never be Mufasa!"?
This decision was ultimately the driving force behind Zira's plot to have Kovu kill Simba and reclaim Pride Rock in the name of Scar, his foster father. And it also made Simba act and look like an ass in the entire film, until learning that there is no difference between his lions and the outsiders. I give Zira a free pass because she's a villain and is allowed to hold a grudge. But it's Simba's overinflated ego that causes most of the problems in the film. Nice one Disney.
1D. The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea
The idiotic reason to keep Melody out of the ocean involves some of the most contrived and stupid nonsense in all of the Disney Sequels. To prevent her from encountering Morgana, Ursula's sister (LAZY!!) Hey, feel free to argue this one: Why not just tell her about the difference between good and caring people and evil and using people? Ya know, the same thing Ariel learned when she struck her bargain with Ursula. Ariel and Eric could have avoided this entire movie had they just told her about Ursula and what she had done, instead of just building a wall that could be easily swam under.Also, I want you all to look at this picture. Does it ring a bell in familiarity? Here's a big hint:
Ariel has become a complete and utter hypocrite in this movie. Did she forget her entire drive and motivation in the first movie? To discover and learn about new worlds and meet her a prince? Does she realize at any point in this movie that she has become her father in oh so many ways? Yes she does, but only when Melody has already handed Morgana the trident and now another sea witch rules the oceans. Ya know what Ariel? You deserved everything you got, from being Morgana's hostage to being zapped and forced to bow to her. Sorry, Ariel. You're hot and all, but I feel quite literally no sympathy for you and what you cause with your idiocracy!!!1E. Mulan 2
Granted I was annoyed that this film got a sequel, I still went into this film with a fairly decent amount of optimism. After all, while the original film was weak, there was still a chance that this could be a Rescuers Down Under style sequel that takes more chances. Instead, we got a clusterfuck of nothingness, combined with two characters sliding backwards on the character development trail. Mushu, who acts like selfish jerk for most of this film, was also a jerk in the original. At the very least they could have given the character some kind of development, but he receives Genie-style treatment as he remains in his previous role from the original movie.
But the biggest and most glaring character flaws are found not in Mushu, Shang, or even the soldiers, but Mulan herself. When she is told that she must escort the Emperor's daughters to their arranged marriage to princes they've never met, Mulan instantly protests. Not only is this hypocritical of the very first thing she was going to do in the first film, but listen to this fact: If the lasting alliance between China and one of these other kingdoms fell, they would separate and seek to defend themselves from the oncoming Mongol horde rather than ally in an assault to protect the kingdom. What does Mulan, our protagonist do? She pushes her emotions and feelings on the princesses and thinks only about her own emotions instead of what would be best for China. Shang tries to convince her, but she keeps pressing her emotions on them and causes a rift between her and her fiance. China was going to fall to the Mongols and it would be because Mulan forced her opinions on others. Talk about a huge step backwards.
2. Drastic Tone Changes
People forget that these films often differ radically in tone from their original films. Starting very early, these films often care only about catering to kids instead of catering to an audience. It's clearly evident in these three films:
Going from the colorful and happy land of the Hundred Acre Wood and into a nightmare inducing and depression worsening film unlike any other. Would you guess this is the premise for a Winnie the Pooh film? I remember seeing this film as a little kid and I could never make it past the scene when Pooh was separated from his friends (Who thought he was dead btw!) and is on the verge of giving up completely on everything. Um...this is the same bear who relentlessly went after honey in the first film? Not only does Pooh suffer far too much in this movie, but his friends also pay the price. Tigger's confidence in bouncing is shattered, which makes him depressed, Piglet is even more timid and frightened in this film, and Rabbit begins to lose confidence in his ability to think when they get lost.
Um....Um....Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh, Willy Nilly Silly Old Bear!?
2B. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2
We all remember how the original film opened right? Large Latin choirs sing over a dark scene, in which Judge Frollo hunts down a gypsy woman and kills her on the steps of Notre Dame, nearly drowning her baby, and being told that his actions have been seen by God and that his chances of entering heaven are now in jeopardy. How does this one start? They sing a song about loving and caring? Did they switch the scripts of this and Pooh's Grand Adventure?
Followup question: How can a movie possibly go from an awesome villain like Frollo to this thing? Not only do Christian Morals have little to nothing to do in this film, but did we really need to give Quasimodo a girlfriend? I thought that was cool. Quasimodo was the only main character from any of the Disney Renaissance films that didn't get a girl. He was still a great character without Esmeralda on his side. Even worse, did she have to be voiced by Jennifer Love Hewitt? How comic and idiotic could this film get? You'll here more during Disney Sequel Month.
2C. The Lion King 1/2
Yes, this movie is real and yes, this scene really does occur in the movie. The result is just another unfunny 2000's Disney joke. Not only does the film lack any of the drama and epic scale the first had, it completely and utterly shits on anything and everything that made the original film.
For example, the opening to the first film had one of the most iconic visual scenes in entertainment history, with the suns rays hitting Simba and causing the animals to bow to their future king. In this film, we learn that there was nothing majestic about it. It was Pumbaa farting!!! -_-
This really annoys me. You could go off and have Timon and Pumbaa have their own little adventure, that's fine. Don't drag a good movie down with you, though. Disney lost my respect after this movie and it took until 2009 for them to get it back.
3. Epilogue
The Disney sequels are just another way Disney tried to gyp people out of money and funnel it towards themselves. And while I only touched on what is wrong with many of them, the rest are all flawed in their own special way. In March 2014, I'll be tackling those abominations in what I will call Disney Sequel Month. Every direct to video / surprise release to theaters movie will be reviewed and punished for how bad they screw over their original counterparts and have forever made an entire generation migrate to Dreamworks and beyond.
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