Walt Disney Pictureshas been responsible for some of thegreatest children’s movies ever, although the studio’s committed fan base is often divided. While some Disney films are undisputed classics beloved by all, there are some releases that audiences have taken issue with, whether due to problematic depictions, outdated stereotypes, or questionable creative decisions. When a studio has so many treasured properties in its catalog, it’s no surprise that fans disagree on many issues.
Eventhe best Disney movieshave divided fans as they debate the merits, themes, and meaning behind cherished animated and live-action releases. Disney’s recent output has led some viewers to wish for a return tothe glory days of the Disney Renaissance, while others are more than pleased with the modern CGI-centric approach of the studio’s output in the 21st century. As a studio founded more than 100 years ago,it’s no surprise that plenty of Disney movies have divided fans.
10Beauty And The Beast (1991)
Directed by Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise
The musical fantasyBeauty and the Beastwas truly one of Disney’s greatest accomplishments and was unquestionably a beautiful and creatively fulfilling film. With a story based on the 1756 fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont,Beauty and the Beasthad a timeless appeal that could be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. Yet, the complex relationship at the heart of its story was not a simple tale of star-crossed lovers, as some fans have taken issue with the cruelty and controlling behavior of the Beast.
Beauty and the Beast Star Addresses Stockholm Syndrome Criticism
Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast star, Emma Watson addresses longtime complaints that Belle suffers from Stockholm Syndrome.
While the message ofBeauty and the Beastwas about seeing the good inside a damaged soul, Belle’s eventual love for the Beast could be read as a classic case of Stockholm syndrome. As the curse-ridden Beast hides Belle away in his castle with plans to make her fall in love with him, it’s clear thatBeauty and the Beastexhibit many faults regarding consent, coercion, and unwanted advances. While the ending ofBeauty and the Beastis presented as a happy one, fans are divided about whether Belle found true love or was simply groomed by a monster.
Beauty and the Beast
Cast
A selfish prince is doomed to become a monster for the rest of his life, unless he manages to fall in love with a beautiful young woman.
9Pocahontas (1995)
Directed by Mike Gabriel & Eric Goldberg
As a historical kids' film based on the life of a Native American woman and the arrival of English colonial settlers, it’s no surprise thatPocahontaswas divisive among Disney fans. Loosely inspired by the real Powhatan tribe member Pocahontas, the film played with the true historical record, making it somewhat controversial. With no evidence that a relationship between Pocahontas and the English colonist John Smith ever took place, the wayPocahontassimplified and changed her story was controversial.
However,Pocahontaswas also one of Disney’s most beloved movies from the 1990s and featured extraordinary musical numbers like “Colors of the Wind.” With beautiful animation and a thoughtful story,Pocahontascould indeed have gone further in its exploration of colonialism, but this was a lot to ask from a movie aimed at children. The Native American activist Russell Means has even praised the film’s racial undertones (viaLA Times) and said that “Pocahontas is the first time Eurocentric male society has admitted its historical deceit,” so there are opinions on all sides.
Pocahontas
In 1607, Pocahontas, a free-spirited young woman of the Powhatan Native American Tribe, meets arriving English settlers, including John Smith. As her feelings for John deepen, Pocahontas finds herself caught in the struggle between her family, and the settlers who seek violence with her people.
8Song Of The South (1946)
Directed by Harve Foster & Wilfred Jackson
It’s hard to think of a more controversial Disney movie thanSong of the South, a film whose problematic depiction of race means it’s never been released on home video and cannot be watched on Disney+. Set after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery,Song of the Southfollows seven-year-old Johnny befriending the elderly plantation worker Uncle Remus and being enthralled by his stories. With a mix of live-action and animated sequences,the legacy ofSong of the Southdivides Disney fans, as some see it as a product of its time while others dismiss it entirely as racist
Why Disney Wants You To Forget Song of The South Exists
Disney is reintroducing many of its classic movies to fans— but it’s keen for one particular movie, Song of the South, to never see the light of day.
The well-known song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and characters from the film, like Br’er Bear, have continued to appear in Disney media.Song of the Southhad many controversial aspects to it, yet erasing it from history is a divisive reaction, as it’s important to learn from the prejudices of the past in order to overcome them. While Disney seems to want viewers to forgetSong of the Southexists, its legacy cannot be ignored entirely.
Song of the South
Uncle Remus, known for being a great storyteller, tells a young boy, upset by the separation of his parents and the difficulties of his work in the fields, the story of three animals.
7The Princess And The Frog (2009)
Directed by John Musker & Ron Clements
The success ofToy Storyin 1995 kickstarted the age of CGI animation in kids’ entertainment, and with each passing year, traditional 2D animated films became less common. This led to viewers feeling nostalgic for Disney’s glory days and wishing for a return to traditionally animated feature films. Disney heard these concerns and releasedThe Princess and the Frogin 2009, although its underperformance at the box office meant that almost every animated project Disney has released since has been primarily CGI-based.
This divisive decision to cast traditional animation aside in favor of the less expensive and time-consuming use of computer imagery meant the nostalgic style ofThe Princess and the Frogbecame a thing of the past. This has left Disney fans divided, as many would love to see the studio focus on 2D animation and CGI releases and allow viewers to experience the best of both. Despite being a fantastic throwback to an early time of Disney’s history,The Princess and the Froginstead represents the end of an eraand a last hurrah for Disney’s 2D releases.
The Princess and the Frog
Based on the classic fairytale, The Princess and the Frog follow Tiana, a hardworking New Orleans waitress in the 1920s who has big dreams of opening her own restaurant. When she becomes involved in a curse set upon a foreign prince by a witch doctor, however, Tiana must figure out a way to help the prince break the curse before time runs out. The film features the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Jim Cummings, Jennifer Cody, and John Goodman.
6Frozen II (2019)
Directed by Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee
After the astounding success ofFrozenin 2013, whose hit songs like “Let It Go” turned the film into a global phenomenon, a sequel was an inevitability. However, it took six years for Disney to finally follow up on the stories of Elsa, Anna, and Olaf, and sadly, the results were disappointingly underwhelming. AlthoughFrozen IItook in an extraordinary $1.4 billion at the box office, it divided fans, and many thought it was inferior compared to the power of the original.
Frozen IIsaw Elsa and Anna traveling to an enchanted forest to unravel the origin of Elsa’s powers, but it felt unfocused and did not have nearly the same cultural impact as the first one. This is often the case with a sequel to a hit film, as audiences' expectations forFrozen IIhad built up so much during the in-between years that it was difficult to deliver on all fronts. Hopefully, withFrozen 3set for release in 2027 (viaDeadline), it can recapture the magic, or else it may be time to let this franchise go.
Frozen II
The sequel to Disney’s smash hit musical animated film, Frozen II sees the return of Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf as they embark on a new journey to save the kingdom of Arendelle. When Elsa and Anna learn about a betrayal that occurred between their nation and a local tribe in the Enchanted Forest, they discover they must seek the truth about their parents and the origin of Elsa’s powers to stop the rampaging spirits and the takeover of their home.
5The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea (2000)
Directed by Jim Kammerud
While sequels to hit animated films are now usually considered equally as deserving of a theatrical release as the original, back in the 1990s and early 2000s, Disney released a slew of direct-to-video sequels to their most successful movies. While some of these received acclaim, such as the well-receivedThe Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, others divided fans, as they questioned the quality of these sequels, likeThe Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. This follow-up story focused on Ariel and Eric’s daughter, Melody, and her desire to swim in the ocean.
The Little Mermaid IIhas supporters among Disney fans, yet it was ranked the 27th worst children’s film ever made byTotal Film. With a lackluster story,the problem with releases likeThe Little Mermaid IIwas just how low effort they felt. The storyline wasn’t engaging, the characters were generic, and at the end of the day, most Disney fans would prefer to just go back and rewatch the original rather than endure a project that Disney was not willing to put their full support behind with a theatrical release.
The Little Mermaid 2: Return To The Sea
Ariel’s daughter, Melody, lives on land but is fascinated by the sea despite her mother’s efforts to shield her from her origins. On her 12th birthday, Melody defies her mother and ventures into the ocean, where she encounters Morgana, sister to Ursula, and strikes a deal with her to see the surface. However, when the deal goes sour, Ariel must return to the ocean to save her daughter and her former kingdom from ruin.
4The Black Cauldron (1985)
Directed by Ted Berman & Richard Rich
As the then most expensive animated film of all time, the box office bombThe Black Cauldronhas remained a divisive film among Disney fans. Using groundbreaking CGI and with a budget that ballooned to $44 million, $19 million more than they had budgeted for (viaJim Hill Media), the failure of this movie put the company’s animation department in jeopardy and was labeled “the film that almost killed Disney.” As a dark fantasy adventurebased onThe Chronicles of Prydainby Lloyd Alexander, what should have been a powerful exploration of Welsh mythology was a total flop.
WhileThe Black Cauldronhas its supporters and has built up a reputation as a cult classic over the decades, it still represents a low point for Disney as one of the studio’s biggest failures. The 1980s were a shaky time for Disney, and it was only in the following decade, with the success of Disney Renaissance releases likeThe Lion KingandThe Little Mermaid, that they finally overcame the consequences of missteps likeThe Black Cauldron. Looking back,The Black Cauldronwas visually stunning, but it lacked the compelling characters of Disney’s best movies.
The Black Cauldron
The Black Cauldron is an animated fantasy film from Walt Disney Studios, directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich. Released in 1985, it follows the young hero Taran and his quest to prevent the evil Horned King from obtaining a powerful magical relic known as the Black Cauldron. Featuring the voices of Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, and John Hurt, the film combines elements of adventure, mystery, and dark fantasy.
3The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1996)
Disney has regularly adapted literary classics for kids, such as Hans Christian Andersen’s work serving as the basis forThe Little MermaidandFrozen. However, some fans argue that Disney took things too far with their 1996 version of Victor Hugo’sThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame, a notably adult story about the lowly deformed church bell ringer Quasimodo and his yearning to explore the world and be accepted by society. While Hugo’s story deals with timeless themes that can be understood by viewers of all ages,The Hunchback of Notre Dameis an intensely dark tale for an audience of children.
Whether or not the story of marginalization, abuse, and isolation at the heart ofThe Hunchback of Notre Damewas appropriate for kids comes down to parental preferences. While some Disney fans will want children to wait until they are old enough to understand the true horrors of this story, others will say that it’s good to teach children about the prejudices and injustices of the world early. Either way,The Hunchback of Notre Damewas a truly compelling story and one of the most poignantly mature pieces of work Disney ever produced.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Disney’s take on the original novel written in 1831, The Huntchback of Notre Dame is an animated musical drama that sees a kind-hearted, deformed young man named Quasimodo who yearns to see the outside world is forced to live alone in the Notre Dame Cathedral as a bell ringer. When a group of traveling performers arrives in town, Quasimodo takes his chance to head out to see them, and his life is changed forever by a chance encounter with the equally kind-hearted Esmerelda. However, his caretaker, the cruel and iron-fisted Frollo, intends to hunt the Romani people down, jeopardizing the travelers' lives.
2Lightyear (2022)
Directed by Angus MacLane
The animation studio Pixar has always been on the cutting edge of computer-animated feature films and, since 2006, has been a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios. With an acclaimed back catalog of beloved classics, the crown jewel in Pixar’s filmography was their debut release,Toy Story. With several successful sequels, Pixar has always been careful not to tarnish the legacy of its most famous franchise, and each subsequentToy Storyfilm felt like a natural progression in the narrative that was made with love and appreciation for its characters.
However, Disney and Pixar’s spin-off filmLightyearfelt like a project that fell off course from the rest of the franchise as it tried to tell a story of a fictional universe set in a fictional universe by presenting it asthe film Andy saw before he got his Buzz Lightyear toy on his birthday. This convoluted premise divided Disney fans, as it felt like it messed with the continuity of the series and led to more questions than answers.Lightyearreceived decent reviews, but audiences were perplexed as it felt like a movie nobody asked for.
Lightyear
Disney Pixar branches the Toy Story franchise off with Lightyear, a story that centers around a human version of the Buzz Lightyear toy and his missions with Star command. Set during an exploration mission, Lightyear and his crew are attacked during a scouting mission by alien lifeforms and find themselves stranded on an unknown planet. To help get everyone home, Lightyear volunteers on a dangerous mission to test pilot their means home. However, each test light passes time and the characters age in his absence.
1The Lion King (2019)
Directed by Jon Favreau
In recent years, Disney has started to plunder its back catalog of beloved animated releases and remake them as live-action feature films. This has had a mixed response from Disney fans, as the 2016 remake ofThe Jungle Bookwas mostly well-received, yet many felt they pushed things too far with Jon Favreau’s 2019 version ofThe Lion King. Despite boasting a star-studded cast and high production values, this new version ofThe Lion Kingfelt more like a cash grab than a genuine desire for artistic expression, and viewers were worried it would hurt the legacy of the original.
The 1994 animated version ofThe Lion Kingholds up incredibly well, and the expression and cartoonish nature of its characters are part of its appeal. Disney’s live-action remakes make a lot more sense when there’s a human at the heart of its story, but since every character inThe Lion Kingis an animal, this photorealistically animated remake was not even technically a live-action film. While this new version ofThe Lion Kingwas a hit at the box office, it rubbed many fans the wrong way and signaledDisneyhad run out of new ideas.
The Lion King
Jon Favreau directs this 2019 live-action adaptation of Walt Disney’s popular film, The Lion King. Starring Donald Glover, Alfre Woodard, Seth Rogen, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, this release follows young Simba as he grows up to become a mighty lion and take vengeance on his dastardly uncle, Scar.
