STRAIGHT TO VIDEO: How The Disney Renaissance Died
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 พ.ค. 2023
- A discussion of what caused the end of the Disney Renaissance, including the history of Michael Eisner and Jefferey Katzenberg's time in control of Disney Studios, the fighting behind the scenes, how the Renaissance came to be, what created Disney's home video sequel craze, the history of Disney Movietoons, how animation changed in the 90s and 2000s, the expansion of Disney outside of animation, and how Disney's recent decisions are repeating the death of the Disney Renaissance.
#Disney
#disneyplus
#animation
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Sources:
www.slashfilm.com/496490/john...
kidscreen.com/1998/04/01/2144...
www.wdw-magazine.com/disney-r....
www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...
www.nytimes.com/1982/09/30/ar...
www.imdb.com/list/ls023829209/
movieweb.com/disney-90s-best-...
collider.com/disney-animated-...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...
finance.yahoo.com/news/day-ma....
disney.fandom.com/wiki/Disney...
www.latimes.com/archives/la-x...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...
nymag.com/nymetro/news/column...
www.denofgeek.com/culture/the...
www.cinemablend.com/news/2555...
d23.com/disney-history/
insidethemagic.net/2018/11/di...
collider.com/jeffrey-katzenbe...
screenrant.com/disney-nostalg...
www.awn.com/animationworld/ta...
screenrant.com/disney-animate... - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
In a way, this video is a straight to video sequel to my Don Bluth-Disney War video. What's your favorite Disney straight to video sequel?
Return of Jafar and lion king 2
You should also cover Disney's live action remakes and also the Disney animated TV GOATS GOATS DuckTales and Gargoyles
Mmmmm.... I have to say The Lion King 1/2 xD.
@@AngelPerez-tu1nk Such a banger
The Buzz Lightyear of Space Command movie but mostly because the whole series it was spawned from was simply fun and colorful. Beyond that odd exception, none of them worked and The Rescuers Down Under should have been the gold standard as far as sequels done with real effort goes.
Honestly I’d take the direct to dvd era over the remake era any day
There were some legit gems in the Direct to DVD collection. 101 Dalmations 2 is a classic in my family.
Both are wastes of time imo with a handful of exceptions
@@staringcorgi6475 That's true, but at least the Direct-to-video stuff wasn't all "progressive" propaganda that craps all over the original movies, promoted by insulting everyone who loved the originals and driving away the audience.
@@Deadguy2322forreal it’s not really progressive it’s mostly tokenism and doesn’t go as far as that
@@staringcorgi6475 Modern progressivism is tokenism though, not that Disney actually knows or cares. The politics in their films are just a rage baiting marketing tool and an easy scapegoat when people inevitably call them what they are, poorly made trash. A bad story is a bad story, doesn't matter what side of the political aisle you're on.
The early 90s all the way to the early 2000s was an interesting time.
We witnessed the beginning of the end of society
in other countries, too. it's amazing to see the same vibe, but in completely different contexts, across the world. like i feel i understand the vibes even tho i wasn't in the US at that time, yet.
Pretty vague comment.
A magical time.
@@megabuster3940 the new millennium has only gotten worse, yes
I worked at Disney from 1995 to 2000 on Dinosaur. It was their first CGI picture. For all the $$ spent on it, it was basically the same story as Buth's "Land Before Time"... and we all knew it.
You deserve a medal for your work in gratitude. Dinosaur is still one of those Disney movies that has a cult following to this day since it came out 23 years ago.
As soon as I saw the trailer for that movie, I pretty much instantly came to the same conclusion. How does this company get away with what they get away with in court?
@@Attmay Becuase it's has very minimal connection to Land of time out side of both have dinosaurs. Kinda makes the OG Comment sus
I always hated that movie with a passion. It was not only a knock off of land before time. It was worse in every way.
@Attmay I mean look at what happened with the Lion King. They literally plagiarized a Japanese anime.
I maintain that Emperor's New Groove is the most underrated Disney movie of all time. It never enjoyed the success it deserved at the time and I'm grateful that so many in my generation, who grew up with it as a VHS staple, appreciate it more now.
I really liked King of thieves. It expanded Aladdin's backstory and served as a great finale for the tv series. Iago kept developing as a character and got a proper ending.
Yeah KoT was well done...not as good as Alladdin but miles better than Return of Jafar which could have been great but just....wasn't
It made me sad when Iago left Aladdin and his friends after all they’ve gone through during the series.
@@RudisKetabs of course it was bittersweet, but I find it in character for him to seek adventures with someone like Aladdin's father.
@@mattm7798 I personally like Return of Jafar as it lead to the series which is awesome :)
Liked a lot Iago's growth over time.
"He Lives in you" is such a great song is because it was written by Lebo M, who was involved in the original. The song first came out on the 1995 album Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Two other songs from that album became "Shadowlands" and "Endless Night", two of the best songs in the Broadway show.
“In your Panties” from Lion King 2 is a really fun song also. Just don’t sing it around coworkers.
Came here to say He Lives in You isn't really "from" Lion King 2, it was an unused song from the original which is why it fits the vibe so well
@@marxmith "Upendi". Ha ha.
The Little Mermaid gets the credit for starting the Disney Renaissance, but I think one of the movies that preceded it, the Great Mouse Detective, is an underappreciated gem that laid a lot of groundwork for the golden years. It had nowhere near the budget and care that Little Mermaid had, but it worked hard with what it had, and was successful enough to keep Disney afloat and keep management interested in animation while the classics were made.
I love The Black Cauldron, think it's such a shame that it wasn't successful and from financially underperforming is usually at best overlooked.
I personally think that Oliver & Company was the one that started it because it had a lot of music.
Take a shot every time Matt Draper says “I cry every time.”
WE will be crying after that hangover...
I passed out...I hope you're happy ;)
Treasure Planet was criminally underrated. Yes, you could it "felt like it was it was from another studio," that's due to the style, not the quality. It contained a degree of world-building rarely seen in Disney animated films, let alone any of their films.
saw it for the first time in the cinema this year, agreed thought it was great
@@Tom-qo4mzit was in theaters this year?😱
@@LM.312 not widely/properly, just a little independent/arthouse cinema in my city screened it that one time
They should be a broad rerelease
@@gyorgyor7765 100%!
I have a massive soft spot for Cinderella III purely for the bananas plot. Disney's bread and butter is fairy tales, and if I want to be really generous, I could probably write a halfway decent essay arguing that Cinderella III is a solid adaptation of Tale Type 403: The True Bride and False Bride, coupled with 313C: The Forgotten Fiancee.
Not to mention how they made a bland ‘cookie cutter’ Prince Charming into an actual character with personality. He’s probably the funniest part of the movie and honestly, I can see why Cindy fell for him after just one night lol.
I love him in the third movie. He was so adorable, and goody, but damn it- he was brave as hell!@@yamato6114
I grew up with these movies, I watched the Lion King countless times when I was younger along with Hercules, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
I actually saw Hercules and Mulan in theaters so they hold a special place in my heart.
watching the scene in mulan where the huns were running down the snowy hill in theaters blew my mind
@@tokenasian1 I remember the grandma going through traffic scene the most but yeah that scene was insane lol
I was slightly obsessed with The Lion King, to the point of watching it almost daily.
The Disney Renaissance played a huge role in my childhood, and I saw the end firsthand. It's weird to think about now
@@ImaginaryAlchemist the same with me as well and we watched a lot of the second movie to.
Ah I miss the 90s sometimes
Hello senior citizen
The part where Matt Draper said "all good things must come to an end?" I cry every time!
While it may have been done for the point of keeping the VHS tapes more expensive, one pro of the Disney vault is it kept the classic Disney films relevant. Snow White and Dumbo were just as popular as Little Mermaid and the Lion King in the 90s. It was an event when you could buy them.
That's very true. I remember when my two favorites came back out on VHS (Peter Pan & Sword in the Stone) and it was a big deal when I was able to buy them. I think my folks still have those tapes somewhere in their basement and I should go dig them up some time.
Kinda sad that with the rise of streaming and the slow, painful death of physical media that isn't really possible anymore
Thought I was hot stuff a few years ago. My wife’s parents moved an unearthed a massive Disney VHS collection. My daughter was young and it was great to show her all this exclusive content. Between those VHS and DVD’s I owed we could watch all the classics. Then came this thing called Disney+. Now we can watch all the Cinderella 2’s and 3’s you want.
That is true, and it was also an event when you could go see them in the theater...I love Disney plus but have to admit having every major Disney movie ever available 24/7 does remove some of the magic from seeing it.
Totally. They were all part of the same era as far as I was concerned. I had no idea that some of those movies were 50 years apart. In my head Lion King and Snowhite might as well had come out the same year lol.
I actually remember watching a lot of these direct to video sequels growing up. My favorite direct to video film was definitely Lion King 2.
Same
My lullaby will always slap
I had a crush on kovu and then found out he was the voice of max
They always would air these movies on the Disney Channel or the other ones occasionally.
Lion King 2 was the only one I saw and I always enjoyed it
I was one of the shareholders who voted out Eisner. Gleefully. While he did incredible things for the company in the 80s and 90s, he was destroying it be the '00s. I was also a member of the Save Disney campaign.
How do you feel about Igor at this moment?
@@gyorgyor7765 Given the heights that he took the company to in his first tenure, right now I'm just sitting back and watching to see if he'll course correct now. Which it looks like he may be, given some recent statements about content. He's still nowhere near Eisner levels. Yet. Chapek was a disaster from the jump.
I’m currently reading a bio on Disney and they talk about Eisner. He had a cold NYC upbringing. Rich kid who’s mom didn’t care for Disney movies so he never saw them. His personality (from what I’ve read so far) just doesn’t seem like a good fit for a company like Disney.
Walt Disney grew up poor and knew what it meant to dream. If he could see the parks for example now it would prob make his head spin.
@@AshleySpeaks09 He grew up poor and was beaten by his father until he was 14, I believe, mainly for messing up his paper route. It's why Roy left home really early.
I wrote two papers about Walt Disney, one in high school as a term paper and one in college, so I've read several of the main Disney bios. As much as I love Disney, Walt DID have a pretty shitty dark side to him that should be acknowledged along with the dreamer. Eisner was more business minded like Roy than Walt, yes, but Walt had his own... doozies. lol
I think (early) 2000s were big problem almost regardless of what was done. Most people were just tired of traditional (princess musical) formula but also weren't interested in something that was pretty different but not different enough (more adventure-dramas types were tried and not embraced), by that point they were only interested in computer animation and/or outright spoofs.
As a Gen-Z kid, I definitely grew up during the height of the Disney Direct to Video sequels. Never really interested me personally aside from a selective few (Lion King 1 1/2 and Lilo and Stitch 2 are bangers). But Disney History has always interested me and has influenced my interest in film and animation history. Post Renaissance era Disney was definitely a mess behind the scenes and while I love a few of the movies during that era warts and all (Emperor’s New Groove, Fantasia 2000, Lilo and Stitch, Atlantis, Treasure Planet and Meet the Robinsons) the Renaissance era was just lighting in a bottle (well minus Pocahontas). Great video. Love to see more Disney history videos in the future. Fantasia in particular I think would make a great focus.
Fantastia is fascinating! One of those pure passion projects for Walt.
@@MattDraper The Disney animated movies from the beginning of the 2000s are really good and underrated, and Fantasia is great. Your videos are really great, Matt Draper. Some suggestions I have are: Starman, Uncanny X-Force, IDW Transformers, Boom Studios Power Rangers, Saga, Invincible Iron Man, Arrowverse, James Gunn Guardians of the Galaxy, The Venture Bros, Justice League Unlimited, Avengers: Earth's mightest heroes, Gotham Central, The Authority, The Punisher, Hitman, Usagi Yojimbo, Secret Warriors, Ultimate Spider-Man or Justice Society of America. Keep up the good work.
Aw Pocahontas should be included too
Pocahontas was great
@@jamestheheel I agree. Pocahontas had stunning animation and great music at least. That was definitely a Disney Renaissance hallmark.
Disney really is a shell of it's former self. Even though their Marvel films made a bunch of money, they aren't as creative and risk taking as they used to be
Bruh, Disney is relying too much on Marvel and it's Disney Renaissance movie remakes for money. And don't even get me started on their Star Wars movies.
@@hanolodo That's pretty much Western media in a nutshell. Just endless sequels or reboots to already existing franchises.
He Lives in You wasn’t originally written for Lion King 2. It was written for a sort of spin off album for the original film called Rhythm of the Pride Lands.
I posted this on another vid, but Ill share it here too. I'll never forget the stories told to me by Robin Steele, one of the co-directors of Kronk's New Groove, telling me just how toxic of a place DisneyToon was to work at because of the idiotic management running it. They lived and breathed formula, were draconian towards any kind of creativity, and didnt give two shits about the quality of the films or the artists making them as long as the video sales broke the bank. Even the later films had insanely tight budgets to work under by Disney movie standards (Kurt Wiley told me that Cinderella 3 was made on a paltry $6,000,000 budget) and the management was so strict that you could get demerits for not 'smiling enough' when getting your work reviewed!
"And then there was that truly evil epoch called DisneyToon Studios, wherein actually solving script problems with storyboard work was a capital offense, when Disney executives figured that they were the REAL storytellers and directors were nothing but "hired wrists" who were brought on to know how to make animation out of the hash they were handed to work with. The day that I objected to the whole idea of a "cheerleading camp" in ancient Peru (because the writer's wife was SO TOTALLY into cheer camp), at a production meeting with the president of DisneyToon Studios, was the day I signed my death warrant therein. When I questioned the anachronism of the two, I was loudly accosted by said president, who screamed at me: "You're being unproductive, Robin! This movie doesn't even HAVE TO BE IN ANCIENT PERU! It could be in OUTER SPACE! You're not being a TEAM PLAYER!!!" There wasn't much creative logic going in there, in those days. "Put it in a jewel case and ship it" seemed to be the overriding principle."
Man. I have not actually heard any inside baseball from DisneyToon so it's not like I can say anything with authority... but that sure SOUNDS like it'd be true. A lower-budget section whose only real task is to turn out movies where plot isn't as important as keeping deadlines and making sure there's always content to feed the audience. From a lot of other stories I've heard from a lot of other industries, that sounds like exactly the kind of branch that has zero oversight because no one in management really cares, making it a perfect breeding ground for toxic egos to swelter and take over. Or perhaps the place where you shunt off toxic people who are ruining the mood at the "good" branches so you don't have to go through the hassle of firing them.
Wonder if that was why the whole section could be shuttered so easily when Lassetter started making demands- the issues in that branch may have become so bad no one would mourn their passing. I read an article that said one of the issues that Sharon Morill and John Lassetter were butting heads over was the Tinkerbell movie's script being a nightmare and making no progress. I wonder if that was also due to mismanagement / nobody getting any work done...and I wonder if it was always like that, even back in the days of them making the Alladin, Little Mermaid and New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh-series.
Although I definitely agree "The Great Mouse Detective" was definitely a product of Disney's "Bronze Age"...................you have to admit it is a highly underrated banger of a film.
Eye to eye: I get goosebumps every time from the haunting animation to the gruesome final fight scene between Basil and Ratagon!
It was definitely a solid movie but don't think it stands with the mega hits of the pre 1996 Renaissance.
Nope, it planted the seeds of the Renaissance.
I just want to go on record that Atlantis: the Lost Empire was an amazingly fun and good looking animated feature, and its a shame it, and Fantasia 2000, became a casualties of the post-renaissance era. The Rescuers Down Under, also a great film, has the same problem--getting lost in the shuffle of the Renaissance era. I had really hoped that the Princess and the Frog would re-launch traditional animation, but it turned out to potentially be the last of its kind. It makes you appreciate how special those films were.
I remember back in... I want to say 2012, Disney won an Academy Award for best animated short for Paper Man, which feature traditional animation, computer graphics, and new experimental techniques. There was talk that those new techniques would be used in a future Disney animated film, but eleven years on, that has not come to be.
Atlantis had a few good visuals but I thought Milo was too annoying and too much of the story felt too weird (and I usually like weird sci fi). And much older it's annoying how much of both the story and visuals were taken from Miyazaki.
I still can't believe Hunchback was so underrated. It had by far the best writing and music of any Disney film. Frollo was easily the most evil villian in Disney history.
Not at all. It had sloppy pacing, the subject was too mature for kids, and while I appreciate what they were trying to do, a movie about bigotry, lust, and murder isn't exactly Disney material.
@Aristocles Hunchback is very typical Disney, dude. The guards try to kill Aladin in the beginning of the movie, then Jafar tries once when he sends him for the lamp, them again at the end. Not to mention the onscreen murders of Gaston and Mufasa. Oh, and there's a stripper in The Great Mouse Detective (also a mouse is excecuted by being eaten by a cat). A cartoon shoe was murdered in a vat of acid without much creative visual hiding (like with Gaston and Mufasa) in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I should also mention Jessica Rabbit. Remember in Aristocats when the cat does the Chinese stereotype Asianface thing? Dare I even mention the fact that Donald Duck was once a very literal Nazi depicted shouting Heil Hitler over and over at the top of his lungs? Disney is not a stranger to bigotry, murder, and lust. You're just choosing not to see it.
@@visceratrocar It wasn't nearly so blatant as it was in Hunchback. You're choosing to take a few instances. Hunchback is a whole movie about those things.
@@Nonamearisto did you not watch most Disney movies, where death was extremely common, and you had the horrors of war, animal abuse, forced marriages, bigotry again, abusive partners, racism again...
@@visceratrocar the "racist" things you cited tho were jokes and not offensive unless you're a Twitter user
Can you imagine the company that innovated animation having no animation division whatsoever?
Also, Rescuers Down Under is so underrated! And Lion King 2 is a legitimately good movie in its own right.
RDU is a good movie but even I knew as a kids wasn't in the same league as the movies released around it. LK2 was just not very good IMO. A prequel with Scar would have been much more interesting....which is what I hear the sequel to the live action Lion King will be.
@@mattm7798 Yeah nobody wants to see that ugly "live-action CGI" nonsense that looks awful and is full of bad acting and no magic in a prequel. While some are considered bad for role reversals, "several stories at once like a mini-series on dvd not a film" along with coming out significantly later (some of them), others were far, far better than the woke remake era of trash. And somehow they just keep getting worse and worse.
I loved john candy in that so funny
Rescuers Down Under was a spectacular movie! Just that score and the flying sequence! To say nothing of George c. Scott’s McLeach!
This video takes me way back. My family growing up were almost completionists when it came to Disney home video releases, I watched everything. Yes, even the straight to video sequels, which probably haven't aged well lol
I'm old enough to remember Lion King fanfiction stories being posted on Usenet. And when The Lion King 2 came out...I recognized many of the names and plot ripped straight from those fanfics. I guess the Internet and Usenet was small-scale enough at the time that Disney got away with it.
💀
That Hatchet reference brings back so many memories of moose-related terror from fifth grade…
Also, Enchanted Christmas may not be good, but Tim Curry as an evil talking PIPE ORGAN definitely deserves some love.
Honestly, I know Jungle Book 2, Little Mermaid 2 and Ariel's Beginning were bad movies, but I'm glad they exist because they used the characters well. For example, Melody was a genuinely well-written character and the relationship between Mowgli and Shanti had depth and emotion driving it.
Little Mermaid 2 was good
@@ChicagoMel23 I'm glad you feel that way. I hope Disney+ makes a follow-up show about Melody. Maybe have her receive a magic ring that turns her into a mermaid when put on so she can have adventures on both land and sea.
@@vetarlittorf1807 I agree, I liked Melody and hope she gets done with more
Can we also take a moment to appreciate the fact that Melody is one of the very few Disney kids whose character design actually looks like a mix between both parents instead of just being a lazy clone of the mom or dad?
@@EagleTimberWolf Exactly. She has Ariel's eyes, nose and chin but she has Eric's cheeks, eyebrows and hair. Whoever designed her really poured their heart into her design.
I'm also glad that she has her own unique personality that is driven by her backstory of being a half-mermaid whose nature was suppressed by overprotective parents which resulted in her developing social anxiety with no self-esteem.
17:00 That's a really great explanation of Touchstone pictures. I used to watch the Disney channel and randomly on weekend nights they'd show those kinds of movies (the old ones), and it used to confuse me so much on why such adult movies were being shown on a kid's channel at night. I'm thankful for them though, they'd teach me a lot of pop culture references.
I’ll always have a soft spot for The Return of Jafar & Aladdin and the King of Thieves, I was a massive Aladdin fan as a kid and would consume anything I got my hands on, even the computer math games, great times
My dad worked for Disney for years. They let him go because of the failure of Disney+. How about you pay your CEO less, Disney? And not let 3,000 people go? They let go people who've worked for Disney for DECADES. They don't care.
"To big to fail is like saying you're too fat to diet."
- Robin Williams.
The 90's were an amazing time to grow up.
If you liked Disney and video games at least.
Unless you lived in Zaire, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Somalia, Colombia, Russia and many other countries I've omitted for clarity
In retrospect, the straight to video Disney entries were pretty embarrassing, But I still think Lion King 2 was a decent continuation of the first movie.
Personally, I would put Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the first film in the renaissance period. Even though it was a live action movie and released under the Touchstone label, it used animation extensively and was used as a bridge for both new and old talent and served as a test bed and proof of concept for the techniques they used going forward.
On a side note, the quality of the television animation also took a huge hit during the period when they were pumping out all the direct to video sequels. The early shows like Gummi Bears and Duck Tales were well written and looked fantastic compared to the other animation that was on the air at the time. That continued through the first few seasons of the Disney Afternoon but when they started making shows based on the theatrical movies it just went to total ass.
Disney’s TV cartoons of Winnie the Pooh actually won two Daytime Emmys.
That's a good point. WFRR was definitely in the same league as the other Renaissance movies.
It’s an underrated classic. I’ve seen many fans of ToonTown Online who don’t know Roger Rabbit.
Matt: I'll have you know I listened to Beauty and the Beast, you'll be in my heart, eye to eye and I only cried for 20 minutes
I remember being a kid when Return of Jafar came out, and despite being 11 years old at the time I instantly recognized the severe drop in quality within the first 10 seconds of the movie, and as a result I never finished watching it, and it wound up souring me on everything Disney from that point onward.
The Rescuers Down Under is such an underrated film! One of Disney’s best IMO
I agree 💯
One can say whatever about Disney sequel animations, but Lion King 1/2 was my favorite guilty pleasure when I was a kid. I still watch it time to time.
The 90s was just a special and memorable time for many of us that will NEVER be duplicated no matter how many re-tellings and reboots of 90s hits they come out with today.
It would've been interesting to see a new Disney Renaissance era of animation but i think those days are long dead along with Walt himself
"He Lives in You" was actually originally included in the CD "Rythmn of the Pride Lands," a CD Disney released containing songs that they were not able to fit into the original film. It was then used for the Broadway in 1997, then finally in Simba's Pride in 1998.
Man, this video is so nostalgic for me. Growing up in the 90s kids were playing Super Nintendo, N64, PlayStation, and Saturn (or mostly Dreamcast). There were tons of animated movies, most from Disney, others like Land Before Time, All Dogs go to Heaven, An American Tail (Fievel goes West is my fave), The Ronald McDonald cartoons and great tv shows. Watching this video i felt like I was back sitting in front of a small 4:3 tv getting ready to watch a live action show from Disney, one of the greats from Cartoon Network or All That, Rugrats and Hey Arnold from Nickelodeon. And wrestling, can't forget the WCW vs WWF war, ECW was rocking too. A time before the internet boom where kids only went on computers to play in paint or a game on a website. Abc Family was such a fun time on Saturdays and the holiday episodes and movies are always so much fun. This video feels special to me for some reason. Thank you 😊
same here
Matty Drapes covering Disney? I cry every time!
Awesome work as always, man. I'm blown away by how deep you're able to dive into the history of Disney and the key creatives behind it. This series of videos has kickstarted an all-new level of appreciation for the company's output and the evolution of its craft over the years.
Even if there are periods of boom and bust, you can't deny there's history being made in every chapter.
Thanks, Doug! The collision of art and commerce is always interesting to me and Disney history is FILLED with that.
Can wait in 10 years to see you do a video talking about the live action remakes...
When I was young we had a lot of disney films. Especially from the renaissance film. While there’s definitely a lot of gems in the 2000s and 2010s there was nothing like it.
I miss Disney doing animated stuff because frankly there shows did define my childhood like gargoyles.
Nowadays they just treat animation like cheap crap
@@jacobrivera1721 agreed
Gargoyles is getting a continuation in comic form by the original creator, shame that it won't be animated, but given Disney's current run, the animated version would only be butchered
My local multiplex only did one showing of Iron Giant per week and that was around 11 am on Saturday. Their reasoning (And yes this came directly from the employees at the theater): "If we didn't Disney told our parent company we wouldn't get the next Toy Story." - That's how desperate Disney was and is to keep their monopoly.
It only died when they started using only 3D animation. There’s literally 7 eras of Disney. Glad to see you did a video on Don Bluth. His animation studio was in my country.
Lion King 1.5 and 2 were the only ones I had seen until I was like 12. So much of my Disney experience as a kid was VHS and DVDs of all these low budget sequels.
It's fascinating how a few decisions can breathe new life into a business
Being born and growing up duirng the Disney Renissance, I so took for granted how spectacular the music, plot and animation was. I had the Mulan soundtrack on tape, and a gorgeous Disney VHS collection. It wasnt until around Brother Bear I realized something was missing.
I know a movie's success is based on how much money it makes but movies like the Aladdin sequels, Lion King 2, Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis and Treasure Planet were some of my favorite as a kid.
Sitting in front of the tv watching these movies for the hundredth time until I memorize all the lines made these films iconic to me.
I will always find the period from the early/mid 80's to the late 90's/early 2000's as possibly the most fascinating in Disney's history. Such a jam-packed era with a seemingly endless rollercoaster of ups and downs. From the disastrous opening of Euro Disney (which almost imploded the Parks Division), to the triumphant Renaissance period of animated films, to the honestly vastly underrated direct-to-video films that became classics of my childhood.
I honestly consider the 80's, 90's, and the early 2000's a time in which Disney was at its best as a whole. Since then, Disney's goal has been prioritizing profit over the consumer and park guest - and this has ESPECIALLY been the case since COVID. My family and I won't be going back to Disney World anytime soon. Iger has a LOT of work to do in order to fix the catastrophic damage Chapek caused.
As a kid i totally bought into "Lady And The Tramp having an official sequel 55 years after the original" hype. I wasn't really sure why they were bad, especially because they still looked more expensive than animated films from many smaller studios.
seeing that delicious list of touchstone films simultaneously fills me with joy and dread. even more than the katzenberg animation, the touchstone/hollywood pictures/bruckheimer releases are the part of the eisner era disney i miss the most - and am most bitter about losing.
Great video, man! I was born in 83 and the Renaissance was a HUGE part of my childhood. I figured the high quality of that era always had and always would define Disney. Definitely not the case. Thanks for great video.
As HORRENDOUS as The Return of Jafar looks now (and back then too), I freaking loved that movie! That and Lion King 1 1/2… “I cry every time”
Great stuff!
Also, I love Bambi 2. As a midquel, I think it does it job well without affecting the original, plus it's a pretty powerful examination of grief and how it affects people.
Plus, Dinosaur is my favourite Disney film, hands down.
I guess it’s true what they say: every Disney movie is someone’s favorite
mine is Aladdin films
I dunno about the Dinosaur film, but the Dinosaur _ride_ is my favorite thing at Disney World.
The straight to video sequel Era really makes me think about what is happening right now with live action remakes.
Exactly
When Matt says "I cry every time"? I cry every time!
My favorite Disney Renaissance movie is The Lion King, I didn’t watch much of the sequels as a kid weirdly enough despite having a mother who loved Disney as much as I did, but I do remember seeing Extremely Goofy Movie on TV a few times since it was about college (which fascinated me at the time).
Matt, I love that you can pivot from covering The Evil Dead to a deep dive into the business and artistic successes and foibles of Walt Disney. Between Swamp Thing, Don Bluth, unmade slasher sequels, and Roger Stern’s run on ASM, AND you're always on Haunted Hippie livestreams, you, my friend, are a kindred spirit❤
absolutely love this as a follow up to the don bluth video, but ive gotta say even just your teasing of covering the disney channel takeover of the 2000s has me frothing at the mouth like omfg.
Trust, I really want to do that video.
The irony of the shutdown of Disneytoon never ceases to amaze me. They were shutdown because the recently bought Blue Sky Studios could do their thing for them… and then Blue Sky itself got shutdown.
Disney’s Direct-to-Video history is just so fascinating to me with the rises and dips in quality and the content of their sequels. Feels like you’re watching Disney movies from another universe at times.
As a synthwave nerd, your choice of music has not gone unnoticed 😎
No company is too big to fail. Disney's actions as of late will have that result, if serious changes are not put into effect.
There are many of us out there, that think people inside Disney are doing this on purpose. Why is a whole other story.
In 2018, I actually gave Disneytoon studios an idea for a third Goofy movie that would have been an epic send off to our characters on their aging timeline that would have aged everyone up to how old they would have been in 2020 (max would be 39, goofy 65) and focus on generational differences, addiction to technology, obsession with nostalgia, and making a joke about Donald Duck being the president…
It was going to be called “a goofy movie: generations” and would also feature max having his own son. Three goofs trying to relate to each other. Sadly they turned me down.
Growing up poor, the wonderful world of Disney meant the world to me and my siblings. Even my parents lit up and sat around to watch the film with us.
Great deep dive, Matt! Now I want to revisit the Don Bluth video since it's been a while since I watched it. My favorite Disney Renaissance movie is "Beauty and the Beast". So many good elements, including Howard Ashman's contributions as you mentioned. Come to think of it, it's probably my favorite Disney movie overall.
Fact: The Lion King 1 ½ and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride are the only Disneytoon Studios straight to video sequels to ever be THX Certified and to have the THX Optimizer in it!! Additionally, Peter Pan: Return to Never Land is the only theatrically released Disneytoon Studios Film to ever be THX Certified as well!
“I cry everytime” should be a t shirt lmao Great video Matt 💙
He Lives In You is actually from the production of Lion King 1! The music team was having so much fun that they made a ton of extra music, some of which was released as a companion album to the soundtrack. Rhythm of the Pride Lands or something.
thanks you for making these series of disney documentaries! They're really insightful, and I literally clapped and cheered after this video ended. sadly good things must come to an end.
As a Disney fan, this period is interesting, not always good, but interesting. Btw, I agree in regards of Beauty and the Beast. It is my favorite Disney film of all time.
I'm surprised The Great Mouse Detective wasn't mentioned as it was a hit and helped pave the way for The Disney Renaissance!
The Gary Paulsen reference made me visibly age. Oh lord the tangent on that era of reading things like My Side of the Mountains. Maybe thats where the yerning to abandon society comes from.
I didn't watch too many of these because they just looked trashy from the trailers, but I do love the hell out of Kronk's New Groove simply because Patrick Warburton is that damn awesome as Kronk. He nails every line. Seriously, he's probably the funniest character to come out of the modern movies after the Genie.
Kronk's New Groove ain't too shabby imo. Anything ENG-related is usually pretty funny
A new Matt Draper video? I cry every time!
I was super lucky to be a 90s kid. Fond memories of the Renaissance movies.
I remember really enjoying Mulan 2. I guess i was too young to see how tonally different is from the original.
17:30 Small correction, The Rocketeer was released under the Disney label in North America not Touchstone. They only did so internationally to try to attract older audiences realizing the mistake they did
If I recall, the Jon Lassiter incident concluded that there was no such case of misconduct filed against him in 2019 when they did another investigation for his Skydance Animation hiring.
Though to be fair, if I were both parties, trying to reverse the damage is already awkward enough, especially the serious metoo movement that was going on. Very strange and controversial moment nonetheless
Worth noting that any investigation being conducted internally by a company is less "was something wrong done" and more "do we think that what was done is bad enough that it'll damage our company's reputation".
@BlueScarabGuy basically this. A more surreal example is the Ezra Miller case because there's hard evidence against him, but the company can still decide whether they should keep him or not (and they did to my surprise).
Look, Prince Charming is actually iconic af in Cinderella III.
"I forbid you to take another step down these stairs!"
*glances left "Okay." *proceeds to YEET HIMSELF OUT THE WINDOW
Personally I kinda feel that the history of Disney's main animation studio (whatever names its been operating under) can be summed up as consisting of two golden ages and then long periods of trying to recapture the quality of those ages. The first golden age stretched from the begining of the studio in the late 1920's up to the release of Bambi in 1942. During that time Walt made sure to push everyone involved in the production of the shorts and features to expand the art of animation to the utmost extent. After 1942 we enter the long period where, even though the animation of especially the top animators at the studio did contenue to evolve, the lack of interest from Walt himself (who devoted himself more to the theme parks than animation at that point) meant a lack of ambition in terms of narrative content in a lot of the studios output, which only got worse once Walt passed away in 1966. Then decades later came the Disney Renaissance when the quality of the main animation studios output soared once again, with movies like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King being absulte masterpieces, but where even as early as the mid 90's it became apparent that Disney got a bit TOO comfortable with their new style of animated movies to the point where they stuck too close to their formula (by the time movies like Mulan and Tarzan came out, even a lot of casual moviegoers started noticing how thematically and narratively similar almost all of Disney's animated movies were). And after Disney themselves realized that their formula started to wear thin and started trying new thinhgs in the 2000's, they unfortunatley stumbled over and over again with trying to come up with something new to replace their now worn-out Renaissance formula (although Lilo and Stitch is amazing). And while a lot of people would describe the 2010's and present day as a third golden age with hoits like Frozen and Moana, I personally can't call it a golden age in terms of actual content (while the box office meanwhile of course speaks for itself) because the truth is that what Disney has essentially done is retreated back to their renaissance formula, which by the late 2000's had become nostalgic and people were just happy to once again see Disney do fairy tail musicals. But appart from a few very expected updates in terms of how to portray women and their motivations, I feel that everything from Tangled to Frozen to Moana to Encanto are pretty much just neo-renaissance movies... but with worse music. Sometimes Disney still puts out an absolute banger that dares to do its own thing, such as Zootopia, but even so, it seems to me that the current era of Disney is for the most part just a not entirely satisfying attempt to recapture the renaissance just like how the entire 1943-1988 period was a not entirely satisfying attempt to to recapture the first golden age.
I was really surprised how good was Tangled because I didn't expect Disney to have a relatable couple with guy who is more snarky than knight in shining armor and girl who is quirky and weird more than "friend to all living things". Everything else felt more about selling lunchboxes to every target demographic (Disney was always about profit and diversity is good for it)... But then there's Mandalorian and it was the show I wanted as a kid. Even things I didn't know I do, like then-Smackdown women's champion giving a Tornado DDT to Boba Fett.
The only straight to video sequel I actually like is Bambi II. Unlike the others it was given some extra love and attention. It more of a love letter to Disney’s foundation of 2d animation and the story wasn’t really meant to alter or evolve the original plot, it was merely to tell the story of a father learning to handle loss and grief while also learning to be the father his son deserves and not what he was taught to be.
It's taken from the original Bambi's scrapped plot. That would be why. Much like how The Rescuers was always intended to be a trilogy, Bambi was intended to be a longer movie and include a lot more plot instead of a large cut to adulthood. This is why some sequels are better. They support plot better and had the place for plot to be.
@@jamie1602 Yup
I’m 80’s kid and grew up with 1970-1980s Disney films. Then they were really waited and it was a big thing to see them at the movie theaters. I live in Europe, so we didn’t have all the Disney shows etc. but Disneys wonderfull world came occasionally on tv. Also renting Disney movie was a thing. 1990 was good (Ducktales)but you could see something changed and Mulan was the last movie I saw. the next was Finding Nemo and Cars. Also Carl Barks and Don Rosa are legends❤.
This is why I roll my eyes when people are like "Disney is in a death spiral, because of these low quality releases!" They must not have been alive during the direct-to-video days, or were too young to remember it.
Currently the parks are being ruined by awful expansions that please nobody though. Moana and Frozen do not belong in EPCOT.
While true at least it was to expand the story. Look at what Iger doing its all live action remakes of old disney films. Id take a sequel over a stupid live remake any day. So maybe need to roll my eyes att u since you have no real clue what your talking about it.
AMAZING video! Wow, so compelling. Great writing and VO. Subbed!!
A masterful presentation, and a fascinating ride; you've got me excited to view your presentation on the history of Dreamworks!
Also, I cannot understate how refreshing, satisfying, and comforting it is to hear to your epilogue; the inclusion of a "proper ending" in this fast-paced, competitive, attention-jacking environment is a highly appreciated anomaly; the reflective close, as medium to both summarise and extend the conversation, is a forgotten skill and courtesy to one's audience I am deeply gladdened to witness again; it relieves the tension after a climactic journey, in a way I rarely experience on TH-cam, and through other modern media. Closing thoughts? I cry every time.
Ohhh the Disney sequels are not that bad. Kovu and Kiara have a sweet romance in Lion King 2, I personally like brother Bear 2 especially at the animation and how they're all willing to make sacrifices for each other, the time that Bambi spent this Dad is interesting it makes a little bit of sense in the context of the end of the film and I'd be lying if I didn't say I didn't like iago's I'm looking out for me song.
This might be my favorite video from you this was so informative and yet entertaining! I would love to see another like this for dreamworks!
Because my family didn’t take me to the movies often, I watched a lot these straight to video sequels more then the first movies as a kid.
So it wasn't just me...I was 4 or 5 and told my parents I wanted 101 dalmatians but my childish mind just kept saying rescuers dalmatian. They heard rescuers down under. It was a more depressing film that took place in the outback. I think that depressing ass movie set me on the fast track to a life of depression. I'm 36 now And trace all my issues to that one little miscommunication.
as a kid who grew up obsessively having to own every disney vhs and rented dvd’s every week, i definitely saw tons of the disney sequels. the little mermaid 2 was a favourite of mine along with mulan 2 (even though trying to watch it now is so hard from the cringe inducing storyline, the song ‘i wanna be like other girls’ still goes hard though)
Really appreciate all the work you do in these videos. 👍
My favorite straight to video is Lion King 2 hands down. Fantastic movie. Animation is touch and go sometimes but I’m a Lion King lover so I can’t help it
My fraternal twin brother and I rented “The Return Of Jafar”, when we were kids. That was my first and last direct to video Disney movie we ever watched again.
After the movie ended, we rewound the VHS tape, put it back in the rental box, and took it back to the video store the very same day.
It wasn't anywhere as good as the movie, but my brother and I had a great time with that movie, 🤣
If you want to learn more about the tenuous relationship between Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, I highly recommend reading James B. Stewart’s book, DisneyWar. It’s a complete look on Eisner’s 21 year tenure as CEO of Disney and parts of it can be both fascinating and ugly at the same time.
At the Studio costume parade on Halloween, some creative person did a costume parody of Eisner and Katzenberg at each other's throats. All the employees Roared with laughter and the guy won the Grand Prize. The following all studio weekly newsletter showcased the prize winners and photos but, NO MENTION of the Grand Prize winner.
Wasn't Katzenberg like a total creep? I thought I remember he did some really bad things but I could be confusing him with someone else.
@@mattm7798 Not a creep. He was just a prick to Disney’s creative staff. A jerk. You’re thinking of someone else.
You know what I find surprised about the Straight to Video movies? There were two easy options that they could have done that they missed out on.
-Alice in Wonderland: They already had a sequel book in "Through the Looking Glass" (albeit they took Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from that book). An animated version of the Jaberwocky could have been interesting to see if they had a creative enough mind for it.
-Sword in the Stone: We only touched the tip of the iceberg with the legend of King Arthur. Introduction of Gwenyvere, Kay trying to redeem himself (since the book had him as a knight of the round table), Morgan Le Fay as a potential villain...there would be stuff to work with there.
Emperor’s New Groove is one of my faves ever 😭😭