The 3 Best And 3 Worst Disney Sequels Of All Time

Theater owners were pretty horny in November 2024.

Wicked became the highest grossing Broadway adaptation of all time, while Gladiator 2 put out, too, combining with the former movie for an event called “Glicked.” (Btw, “Glicked” is the best that the entertainment media could come up with? Not “Wah-diator?” Like a gladiator who is actually just a big baby? Or “Wickediator?”) Anyway, theater owners remained horny, because Moana 2 broke even more box office records thanks to its name recognition and starry returning cast. Auli’i Cravalho was back in the title role, while Dwayne “the Wah-diator” Johnson was back as himself (OK, Maui). However, the movie didn’t earn the same glowing reviews as its predecessor.

While Moana 2 has a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes overall, it’s unfortunately flaunting a lot of green in the Top Critics section of the site. The consensus appears to be that it is an entertaining, if uninspired, sequel – in other words, a successful cash grab. That isn’t anything special, though. A superior sequel is the exception, not the norm, in Hollywood; and Disney sequels usually fall somewhere between brilliant and embarrassing. That said, here are three examples of both. 

The 3 Best Disney Sequels

Lion King 1 ½ (2004)

You wouldn’t think that “Timon and Pumbaa but existential” would fly with Hollywood executives, but here we are. Lion King 1 ½, an animated adaptation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, manages to be both funny and touching while shining a new light on Timon and Pumbaa as they wait for Simba to save the Lion Kingdom. Plus, the original movie was adapted from Hamlet, so why shouldn’t the half-sequel also reference an AP English mainstay? As a bonus, Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella get to reprise their roles as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively.

Frozen 2 (2019)

Before Moana 2, Frozen 2 enjoyed its own Thanksgiving box office success story, thanks to glowing reviews and a universal fondness for the first Frozen. And the reviews were no fluke; Frozen 2 has become a rarity in the Disney sequel-verse. In addition to being released in theaters (itself an uncommon occurrence), Frozen 2 recaptures the magic of the original movie while developing its characters even further. That’s more than can be said for the three “worst” entries on this list. 

Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996)

This movie is mostly infamous for containing a subtly cringy sex joke courtesy of Robin Williams’s Genie. (After an earthquake interrupts Aladdin and Jasmine’s wedding preparations, Genie says, “I thought the earth wasn’t supposed to move until the honeymoon.”) And yet, King of Thieves is a surprisingly solid Disney entry. The storyline about Aladdin reconciling with his thief dad is affecting, while the animation is state-of-the-art (…for 1996).

The 3 Worst Disney Sequels

Mulan II (2004)

Remember how badass Mulan is in the first movie? How she joins the army and defeats her enemies with bravery, empathy, and grace? Forget all that. Why not make an entire sequel about her bickering with Li Shang, like she’s the star of a 1980s sitcom? That’s all Mulan II is. Plus, Eddie Murphy’s replacement for Mushu leaves something to be desired.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002)

If the original Hunchback of Notre Dame had a salient strength, it was the movie’s Parisian atmosphere. The impressive vistas, subtle accordion riffs, and smattering of French accents managed to lighten what was otherwise an emotionally complex and mildly tragic Gothic romance. The sequel undid all of that. In addition to giving Quasimodo an annoying girlfriend played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, Hunchback II removes the original story’s Frenchness. All that remains is bland animation and so-so music.

Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World (1998)

The first Pocahontas was already rife with historical inaccuracy. In real life, Pocahontas was only 11 or 12 when she met John Smith, and never had a romantic relationship with him (at least, we hope). On top of that, Chief Powhatan never called himself thusly — Powhatan was a name assigned by the colonists — and Grandmother Willow never existed, since weeping willows weren’t introduced to the New World until centuries after Pocahontas. For all we know, there was a tree that offered Pocahontas advice whenever she ate the wrong mushrooms; but this would have been a native tree. In any case, I digress: Pocahontas 2 took the historical inaccuracies of its predecessor and doubled them. It also turned Pocahontas’s story into a bad comedy of errors and topped this all off with stilted animation. I heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon after this movie and it said, “Please stop.”