Lilo and Stitch

[Ben]

Yes, and we return to the issues, even in the "good" ones, where at least one element — be it animation, story or songs — does not stack up. Mostly with Atlantis "II" and Hunchy both being very deficit in the animation department (and Hunchy basically a train wreck on every count, as is Cindy II), while Kronk just feels exactly what it is in episodes being linked together. The Mulan follow-up has fairly good animation, and a song or two (it even got it’s own soundtrack release) but the story is lame.

Cindy III is an interesting one, as the story is quite solid, once you get past the awful first half, being based on pre-existing material, though it contradicts the original so there’s a strike against it right there. And animation is a cut above, if not full feature quality. The songs are not too bad either, again again after the too frenetic, hyper opening. There’s probably also a psychological thing at play, too, like "how is there even a movie called Cinderella III?" , which just feels inherently wrong in itself — but the second admittedly half plays gangbusters, even if it still doesn't deserve to exist!

I enjoyed it enough, it seems, back on DVD in 2007:

https://animatedviews.com/2007/cinderel ... t-in-time/

[EricJ]

I never watched Atlantis II and I actually heard it's as unwatchable as Mulan II and Hunchback II, which unfortunately I own because Disney made me, but never bothered watching them.

If you cringe at the very sight of Disney TV animation pretending to be something it's not, then for heaven's sake, hide your eyes.

But if you take Atlantis II as the rejected Disney Afternoon "Team Atlantis" TV spinoff pilot it was meant to be, dang, I wanted to see this show, and I loathed the movie with a passion:
The supporting crew--Doc, Vinny, Mole, etc.--who were despicable loonies in the movie, now have a Scooby-gang role of expertise, as Milo and Kida return to lead the team on new ancient-paranormal investigations for the museum.
IOW, if you ever wondered what happened to those cool pretentious world-mythology comic-book plots from Gargoyles...they're back, baby.

Mulan II is...okay, if you know that the last fifteen minutes is making up for an abandoned cliffhanger leading into Mulan III, and jams it all in at the end, but yes:
Hunchback II is the true mark of shame that Cindy II ended up unfairly taking the rap for.

[Farerb]

Never knew there were people who preferred a DTV over the theatrical film, and you're not the only one. Just recently saw someone who prefers Simba's Pride and The Lion Guard over The Lion King.

[Farerb]

Cindy III is an interesting one, as the story is quite solid, once you get past the awful first half, being based on pre-existing material, though it contradicts the original so there’s a strike against it right there. And animation is a cut above, if not full feature quality. The songs are not too bad either, again again after the too frenetic, hyper opening. There’s probably also a psychological thing at play, too, like "how is there even a movie called Cinderella III?" , which just feels inherently wrong in itself — but the second admittedly half plays gangbusters, even if it still doesn't deserve to exist!

I have to say that while I don't think it's as terrible as other DTVs, I have a major dislike for it because of how some people praised it as better than the original and how they said that Cinderella finally does something to *deserve* her happy ending (as if being genuinely good and kind is not enough to deserve a better life and not endlessly being abused and humiliated).

[Daniel]

and why they put that extra effort getting the cruise-ship show for Cindy 3--

No, A Twist in Time is not a spin-off of the Cruise Line show "Twice Charmed". Both were developed around the same time.

but a few of the upgraded TV "movies" are actually pretty good if you go in knowing they're TV episodes:
Kronk's New Groove (which was passed over for "Emperor's New School") is tolerable

No, Kronk was always structured as a feature film from the start. Animation was handled by DisneyToon Studios, the series was done by the Television Animation crew. Difference is night and day.

Mulan II is...okay, if you know that the last fifteen minutes is making up for an abandoned cliffhanger leading into Mulan III, and jams it all in at the end

Again, no. A second sequel was planned (and canceled mere months before II was even released) but it wasn't to be connected in any way.

[Ben]

And…Cindy II is in no way "better" than Hunchy II…!

Both are as abysmal as each other, and admittedly it’s a toss up between the two, but Cinders fails just that little bit more for being TV episodes.

[Randall]

I still haven't been able to bring myself to watch almost any of these, despite having them all at home on disc for the most part. (The Tarzan ones are on my watch list on Disney+, too.) I've only seen the Lion King and Mulan ones, which were all okay but not great.

[Daniel]

... plus The Fox and the Hound 2 and Return To Never-Land!

[Dacey]

Never Land went to theaters.

And I’ll go on the record as saying that many of those sequels are actually better than they’re often given credit for.

[Ben]

Tarzan II had some nice animation (again being made close to the first), but was a pointless midquel, so loses on the story front. Tarzan & Jane was another TV episode compilation, so isn’t a true film at all.

Lion King 1.5 was fun at the time, but doesn’t really hold up on repeat viewings now. I saw it again five or six years ago and it just felt very slow.

Fun to see Rand forget he’s seen Fox/Hound II, but you can’t blame anyone on that front! I think I covered it too — oh, yeah, for the Blu-ray reissue with the original.

But Pan's Return To Never-Land wasn’t too bad at all, being one of the first that got a theatrical release. In fact, I also covered it — twice! — for the original DVD (Rand did the reissue) and the Blu-ray update (interestingly one of the standalones not bundled with the classic first).

[Randall]

Well, the discussion hadn't turned yet to Fox and Hound. I know I saw it, because I reviewed the DVD! I ended up giving the DVD to someone whose daughters actually loved that movie. (I have the double feature Blu, of course.)

And those were both pretty decent! Neverland, of course, is really quite good. (It was initially planned as a DTV, wasn't it?) I'm still amazed Disney thought the world needed a Fox and Hound sequel, but it's a nice, quiet film with a good country soundtrack.

[gaastra]

Jungle book 2 got a theatre release also and the first few tinkerbell movies pulled the "play in LA and new york theatres to count for oscars" card. They didn't get any nods!

Odder is disney combined disney jr shows into a "movie" and released them to limited release. Pretty odd.

Anyone even go see these? Bet bunch of parents passed!

[Ben]

Internationally, many more DTVs got big screen showings: all the Tink movies were released here in the UK for one thing. Secret Of The Wings was even rendered in 3D specifically for a cinema release (and got a similar disc release too). And I have a theatrical onesheet for the first film and the later The Pirate Fairy.

And of course there were all the Pooh movies: The Tigger Movie is perhaps the closest the DTVs got to possibly maybe almost kinda being close to a *true* theatrical (outside of A Goofy Movie, though that was Movietoons and predates DisneyToon, though that’s what it would become), but there was a whole bunch that didn’t quite reach even that height, like Piglet's Big Movie, Heffalump Movie, Heffalump Halloween, etc.

I’m still convinced, even outside the Potter threat, that the subsequent "official" Pooh sequel didn’t do well because it was just seen by the audience as yet another cheaper knockoff (and because it had a bland generic title when it should have been retained the production name of The Further Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh to tie it to the original Many Adventures feature).

[Farerb]

I'm sorry, but I disagree with most of you. I don't think there's any good DTV - decent maybe, but most of them are bad to mediocre.

Peter Pan was released under the Diamond/Signature lines and there's no way Disney would have allowed to bundle the cheap sequel with the original, none of the films in those lines got their cheap sequels bundled with them (Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King). I hope that solves your mystery, Ben.

[EricJ]

=

Mulan II is...okay, if you know that the last fifteen minutes is making up for an abandoned cliffhanger leading into Mulan III, and jams it all in at the end

Again, no. A second sequel was planned (and canceled mere months before II was even released) but it wasn't to be connected in any way.

So, it wasn't going to cliffhanger at the point where Mulan says she's going to rescue Li Shang, and III wasn't going to be about Mulan being offered as substitute bride (for the three princesses who disappear halfway through the movie after their story arc is done) to a weak prince who can't fight the enemy, while Mushu regrets trying to split Mu & Shang, and makes up for it by playing cupid to get them back together, just after the big battle with an enemy who doesn't even show up at the end of II?

Um, okay. Seems kind of disorganized screenwriting, though.

And FTR, when Disney got a little too February-vacation-upgrade happy after Return to Neverland, and put Tigger, Piglet and Jungle Book 2 in theaters, even Michael Eisner complained at the stockholders' meeting that they weren't theatrical and it was cheapening the brand:
"We've got a good product, but think we've got a little too MUCH of it out there at the moment."