u/Crescentbrush

Can you believe there's actually a wikipedia dedicated to this exact subject? Of course, I had to check the sources, but it was interesting to learn about regardless:

• Kingdom of the Sun--An epic Inca musical that included plot points like an emperor and a commoner switching identities, the emperor being turned into a llama, and the emperor's advisor trying to blotch out the sun in order to regain her youth. The story had a lot of moving pieces and was eventually reworked into "The Emperor's New Groove." It'd be fun to see them try the idea again, though. Maybe try a new culture so it doesn't get comparisons and nix the animal transformation subplot.
• Swan Lake--Okay, according to that specific page, it was scrapped due to "The Swan Princess" being made...buuuuut if you check out Ron Clements' wiki page and follow the source, he did an interview saying he and John Musker were given it as an option to direct, but chose to do "Aladdin" instead for the action-comedy content as well as it being too similar to "The Little Mermaid," which is fair. It'd be so cool to see it revived though, preferably keeping the ballet aspects of it and maybe keeping the original score while making it a musical (but "Sleeping Beauty" did that and they didn't have a lot of songs, so that sucks). It'd also be neat to see it take place in a culture where ballet is very popular, ie Hungary. And if it is a musical, a return to operatic vocals like "Sleeping Beauty" would be MUCH appreciated.
• Gigantic--Disney's take on "Jack and the Beanstalk," set in the Golden Age of Spain with the songwriters of "Frozen" and a team that had been involved in (or would go on to be involved in) "Tangled" and "Inside Out 2." It kept getting delayed until finally being scrapped for some reason. I'd like to see it, though I'm curious if Disney would want to keep it in Spain since they just did Iberia with "Wish." I read a fan idea of it being set in Thailand a year ago, and I do like the idea of Disney returning to SEA sooner than later, especially for a musical.
• The Emperor's Nightingale--I'll admit I wasn't a fan of the fairy tale, but seeing Colin Stimpson's concept art and finding out it was gonna be an epic Indian story, I'm very curious to see how it panned out. Sadly it was scrapped in the 2000s since Disney saw the profitability of comedies and found a soaring, dramatic, and bittersweet film to not be in the cards right now.
• Tam Lin--I think Roger Allers could've had a great future at Disney if he'd gotten to produce all his planned projects. He wanted to do an Irish take on the Scottish ballad of Tam Lin, which Roy E. Disney--someone very in touch with his Irish roots--supported, but since Disney was in a power struggle with Michael Eisner and Eisner saw how much it meant to him, he cut the project, giving an explanation akin to "it was too Irish." I can't imagine how heartbreaking that must have been. Allers then took the project over to Sony and was gonna direct it with Brenda Chapman (but seeing how she was big on embracing her Scottish heritage, I'm curious if the story was gonna revert back to that; also wonder how it would've affected "Brave" if she made this), but Sony was also afflicted by the "let's make a comedy" bug and scrapped the project, making Allers direct "Open Season" instead.
• Sinbad--The film was greenlit thanks to the success of "Aladdin" and largely based on the 1950s comic series. However, it got cancelled, and Jeffrey Katzenberg decided to revive the idea when he made Dreamworks (and on a personal note, that movie frustrates me greatly).
• Homer's Odyssey--Supposedly it was cancelled since it couldn't translate to action-comedy. I do wonder if there would've been more push to adapt it if "Hercules" had performed stronger at the box office, though.
• Aida--A lot of people don't know we almost got a black lead earlier than Tiana. Disney bought the rights to a children's book version of the opera "Aida" and wanted to get Elton John involved in it due to his success with "The Lion King," AKA the highest-grossing animated film ever at that point. But Elton John didn't want to do another animated film and Disney suggest a Broadway musical instead. To this day, I mourn what we could've had--plus I really wish things with Stephen Schwartz hadn't went down the way they did; what he did for "The Prince of Egypt" he could've done for "Aida."
• Rumpelstiltskin--Well, I am kinda glad this one got cancelled since I'd want another angle on it. The original "Uncle Stiltskin" idea would be about Rumpelstiltskin trying to steal kids because he wants a family of his own.
• Untitled Persian Film--Suzi Yoonesi worked on a Persian film for 5 years for Disney and we heard very little about it. It's suspected that it was scrapped in favor of "Moana 2" due to the underperformance of "Wish" and "Strange World." Disney can't just stick to sequels whenever their original films underperform, but I'm not sure they know that.

I made a posts on this on another subreddit, but I'll just combine them into one post here:

1. MENA (Middle East and North Africa)--I understand that this may not be Disney's first priority, seeing how they cancelled Suzi Yoonessi's Persian film, but seeing how they have a Disneyland planned for the United Arab Emirates and Jasmine is one of the most popular Disney princesses, it feels like a good idea for a MENA film. In particular, a MENA film with obvious influences; "Aladdin" was originally planned to take place in Iraq, but eventually became an amalgamation of Middle Eastern and South Asian influences mixed with an American touch. It'd be neat to see a Hollywood film that depicted this region without mystifying or exotifying it. On another post, someone did suggest the idea of Scheherazade, the woman who's story is the frame story of "1001 Nights," and while I wouldn't want a literal adaptation, a film where the female protagonist uses her wit and gift at storytelling would be welcome from a company who's best films are beloved for their unique adaptations and storytelling.

2. Romani or Indian culture--I remember reading that Spain has the highest Romani population in Europe and that someone was making a rewrite of "Wish" where the female lead was Romani, and I will admit it's been on my mind. Nevermind that we were robbed with Esmeralda not being a (permanent) member. I get why, but...it just sucks. Honestly I find it interesting that the average American probably won't know who the Romani are, but pop culture seems to love them, as evident in comics and shows. Granted, Disney doing an Indian musical would probably be the easier option (and potentially more lucrative, seeing how big India is on musicals), and doing a film focused on a nomadic culture could easily be misconstrued and done poorly--or undermined, emphasizing the country they live in and not diving into their unique culture; people have said similar for Asha's Amazigh culture in "Wish." Disney was going to adapt "The Emperor's Nightingale" and set it in India instead of China in the 2000s, but due to animation in America pivoting to comedy, it was scrapped due to it's epic, bittersweet tone. I'm not well-versed in Indian culture, but from the little I know, I think it'd be interesting to see them focus on Southern Indian-influenced cultures and territories, since Northern India usually gets most of the media attention. And not saying they HAVE to do it, but due to the Indian influence on several Southeast Asian cultures, the story could essentially work as damage control for the SEAs who felt disappointed with "Raya and the Last Dragon." From what I understand, there's a legend that the first king and queen of Cambodia were an Indian merchant and a naga (divine half-human half-serpent) princess, and Thailand has a tale of the Hindu god Hanuman having a mermaid lover named Suvannamaccha, so there's some cultural overlap.

3. Indigenous Americans--There's a great irony to the fact that Hollywood is a prolific industry but very little (positive) mainstream representation for the Indigenous people of the USA. "Pocahontas" is one of the most controversial Disney films due to taking creative liberties with a historical figure, but I do think some of that would decrease if it wasn't the only major Native American Disney princess movie and there was something more positive, or if another Native American film with positive representation took over the American zeigeist. Disney did make "Brother Bear," but that never reached significant heights. And even if it did, I'm sure a lot of people would like one that didn't follow the pattern of "POC is stuck as an animal for most of their film," especially since BB only talks about culture when Kenai is a human. Obviously we'd abandon any historic content (and the cliche of being a colonial story) for a new NA story and have fun with a fully fantasy film like many other Disney films. Heck, play their cards right, and it could be just as big as "Moana." I know "Native American" could refer to any indigenous group within the Americas, but I'm from the United States, so I am biased for the culture to be inspired by that country. Since "Pocahontas" was based on the Powhatan people of the Eastern Woodlands and "Brother Bear" was influenced on the Inuit people of the Arctic, perhaps the Southwest (interestingly, this region is known for having a significant albino community; an albino Disney princess or prince would be unique representation of it's own), the Great Plains, or the Pacific Northwest region could serve as inspiration.

4. Brazil--Given the buzz of "Encanto," creating another Latin American musical feels like the obvious choice--especially since Latin America is so diverse that it wouldn't feel like "just another Encanto"; outside of the Spanish-speaking areas, South America is also home to countries shaped by French and Portuguese cultures (definitely not limited to these, but just mentioning it in the "Latin" vein). In terms of diversity, Brazil has one of the largest black populations in the world outside of Africa. Of course, they also have the largest Japanese population outside of Japan, so that's also an option for the MC's identity. Plus Brazil has a big fanbase for Disney, to the point where they hosted D23 in 2024 and made me think they'd announce a Brazilian film--but oh, well.

5. Thailand--Given that Raya was the representation for Southeast Asia as a whole (with Thailand being one of the countries the team visited and researched for her film), I doubt we'll have a Southeast Asian Disney film anytime soon--the cultures become monoliths for some reason. But that doesn't mean I can't dream! Thailand is trying to get Disney to build a Disneyland there as the first one in Southeast Asia (though IDK if they'll seriously consider it since they're trying to build one in Abu Dhabi now; plus I wonder how that'd work since Thailand has a reputation for being a cheaper vacation destination, and Disneyland would essentially be the antithesis of that), so maybe Disney would make a film to celebrate that if it happened. Perhaps Fawn Veerasuthorn (head of story for "Raya and the Last Dragon" and co-director for "Wish") will offer some new ideas, or someone else entirely. It's a shame Matt Braly's too busy right now. I still feel like we were robbed of an SEA musical, and I remember reading online a suggestion where it was suggested Disney retool their Spanish idea for "Gigantic' into a Thai one.

6. Japan--Well, duh. Whether they use an anime style or not (I think they'd need something to rival "Demon Slayer"), I know I'd want it to be a musical. "Belle" and "Inu-Oh" are the only anime musicals I've ever heard of, and Disney could definitely make something memorable with the right people and less exec interference. Maybe it's my "Kingdom Hearts" side, but Tetsuya Nomura is one of my candidates to direct it (he did want to make FFXV a musical, after all) and Hikaru Utada to write the songs. I'm curious what time period they'd try. They could go modern to compete with "Belle" and "Kpop Demon Hunters," (as well as other western films with Asian leads from the 2010s to now) or try an older age. As it stands, "Mulan" took place somewhere between the 4th and 6th centuries while "Raya and the Last Dragon" takes place between the 9th and 12th centuries, so it's possible a Japanese Disney film would take place would take place around one of those period. Perhaps the Heian period would work. Of course, Japan is the one country where animation is taken more seriously than live-action, so it'd behoove Disney to come correct, perhaps having a director from Studio Ghibli or Studio Chizu head it--though as many have said, Disney's too corporate to really let their creativity work as it should. Shame, but maybe one day they'll be less self-conscious with self-image and branding (especially seeing how animation fans value quality).

7. Sub-Saharan Africa--Given the Disney+ shows of "Iwaju" and "Kizazi Moto" that explore African cultures through a sci-fi and fantasy lens, as well as Beyonce making a whole African-influenced companion album to the live-action remake of "The Lion King," I'd say it's overdue, particularly since Disney's made two films set in Africa, but they were either about animals or white people, so...I still feel robbed with us not getting an "Aida" film. Would've wanted Stephen Schwartz doing the music over Elton John and Tim Rice, though. I keep thinking that if Disney wants to do a fairy tale, "The One Armed Maiden" or "The Boy with a Moon on His Chest" are good places to start.

8. Hungary--This is largely due to being exposed to the works of Marcell Jankovics, known as the Hungarian Walt Disney, and really enjoying his work. It'd be interesting to see Disney pull some influences from his work for it.

(Keep in mind I can't count backwards on these posts, so it's going from least favorite to favorite)

1. The Rescuers Down Under--I don't really have anything against this movie. It just wasn't my thing, neither in setting nor story. Would've been interesting to see if they had went with the proposal of Cody being Aboriginal though--but just from a cultural standpoint. IDK if I would've been much interested beyond that.
2. Tarzan--It continues to befuddle me that the directors thought Tarzan bursting into song would be ridiculous. It's no stranger than a man raised by and able to communicate with gorillas, or Phil Collins singing throughout the film as the narrator. NOT a fan of musicals like that.
3. The Lion King--I put this film low for personal reasons that pretty much everyone is gonna disagree with: I wish it was with humans. I'm not a fan of animal-centric films unless they can be in a human environment (and even then the story needs to be good, ie "Zootopia"), and I'm even more annoyed that this was an African film and they didn't think to do it with people. I imagine it'd have it's cultural issues, but I think more effort could've led to it being just as iconic. I do regret that this was Roger Allers' one and only project for Disney due to "Kingdom of the Sun" and "Tam Lin" not working out, and I'm annoyed that Disney scrapped a film adaptation of "Aida" because they wanted to work with Elton John again and he didn't wanna do another animated film.
4. Mulan--Honestly my biggest critique is that it doesn't have enough songs, evidence once more of the "you can't have an action film that's a musical" mentality that carried over to the remake (the director literally said she didn't know how to make a musical out of a girl going to war but she would if she could; are you serious?). I do wonder that if Disney hadn't kicked off Stephen Schwartz for working with Dreamworks on "The Prince of Egypt," AKA his best work, if "Mulan" would've had more songs. Plus it wasn't magical enough for me; too grounded. The remake can burn.
5. The Hunchback of Notre Dame--This was EXTREMELY hard for me to rank. On one hand, I love the animation, the themes, the characters, and the music. But on the other, it's a more grounded film that doesn't grab my interest as much and can be emotionally draining.
6. The Little Mermaid--It's a great film, though I often forget that it isn't until halfway through that we get to Ariel turning human. I wish that we had more focus on her 6 sisters; maybe they could've disrupted the wedding instead. Plus I needed communication between Ariel and Eric post-battle. I do wish they'd included some aspects of the earlier drafts, ie Ariel knowing what the human world's items were (before the creation of Scuttle) and elements of the 1987 draft.
7. Hercules--As one of the Greco-Roman mythology fans as a kid (and even now), I enjoyed this film a lot, and I continue to think back on it as the last Disney musical with a male lead. That said, I'm not crazy about how a lot of things went down, ie glossing over Hades' feelings of inferiority and isolation from his family making him bitter, the Titans being just reduced to secondary villains, Meg's involvement in killing Hercules-- Hades doesn't actually say she doesn't have a choice until MUCH later; before that, he bribed her with her freedom (which I get, but it doesn't make me feel better about the situation), and her situation makes me wonder if Hades bribed her boyfriend to leave her--and so on. That said, it's beautiful to look at, and while it doesn't transport me to the culture it's representing like a lot of Disney films do, I like it.
8. Pocahontas--Great music, animation, character writing, and themes. If this was pure fantasy instead of a historical backbone, I imagine it'd be as beloved as the other classic Disney films. The desire to want a star-crossed lovers story and landing on this (not "Othello" or even Sacagewea/Lewis/Clark) I will never understand, but I do get the passion. I will say I can't rewatch it a lot because it has very little magical elements, similar to "Mulan" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." I need another Native American musical. And someone please explain to me why this film gets so much hate but "The New World" is seen by some as one of the best films of the decade and they do a lot of romanticizing as well.
9. Aladdin--Honestly I think this ranks so high because it manages to be a fairy tale, a musical, and an action film all in one. But it's very obvious that this was inspired by Old Hollywood films, and that definitely makes some things feel dated, both with it's storytelling and it's depiction of Middle Eastern culture. Similar to my opinion that Disney should make a Thai film if Thailand manages to convince them to make a Disneyland there, given that a Disneyland in Abu Dhabi is being planned, I think it'd be cool for Disney to make another MENA film, though probably a more specific culture. I read that "Aladdin" was originally set in Baghdad, but the Gulf War prevented them from doing research in-person, and the name was changed. I do wonder how it would've turned out if they'd gotten more in-person research for it. Plus I regret that the apparent reason we didn't get a "Swan Lake" adaptation is because John Musker and Ron Clements thought "Aladdin" would be better. WHY COULDN'T WE HAVE BOTH?!
10. Beauty and the Beast--While I won't parade it around as much as others who love this film, it is gorgeous to look at, listen to, and be invested in. I don't think there's any more explanation than that. I do almost wish Monsieur D'Arque was the main villain; for a good portion of the film, Gaston seemed mean, but not evil. Though I'll admit it's rather refreshing to have a Disney villain who just wants a person, rather than power or influence (seeing as he already has them).

IDK when the revival era is considered over, so I just stated it like this.

16. Wish--It hurts my soul to put a musical at the bottom of this list, especially seeing how it had all the ingredients for a critically-acclaimed, box office success. But the end result wasn't satisfactory; the message was muddled, the songs were generic, and the use of hybrid animation, aside from not being something I like, was ill-fitted for this film. If all the scrapped concepts I liked were used in this film and the creative team wasn't stifled/confused by executives (I NEED a behind-the-scenes documentary for this film), I think this would've been top 5, maybe even top 3 for me on this list.

17. Strange World--The film has a really interesting theme of environmentalism and using it via aliens, but it never comes off as unique or interesting; even the alien animation is generic. This almost feels like something that would've been handled better in the post-renaissance era (and subsequently been underrated, but isn't that better than how it is now?) It's a shame, because Searcher is one of the few Disney films where the main character is a parent/grown adult instead of a young adult. Disney could've opened up to a new audience here if this film was better. I only put this above "Wish" because "Wish" had too much expectation from me.

18. Wreck-It-Ralph--I like the message the film offers, but I think part of the reason I couldn't engage with it was because of the retro inspiration; I was never a big arcade game player. I think it was cute, but it just wasn't engaging. It's not that this was a bad film, but there were other Disney films of this era that I think I gravitated to a bit more. I do hope Disney makes a video game-inspired film one day, though--but I don't know if their current management would handle it right.

19. Wreck-It-Ralph 2--Again, I found it a cute film, but it just didn't engage me. The ONLY reason I placed this above the first was for obvious reasons: the Disney princesses (and most of their original voice actors) returned, so that was an honor to see.

20. Moana 2--The film had a really good concept, but the execution of it wasn't as good. It was very apparent that Disney only gave them 10 months to make a tv show into a movie with little wiggle room to change anything (as confirmed by the screenwriters), which was only 4 months in terms of writing since animation takes about 6 months for 3D, if I recall. I'm pretty sure they did this when it became clear that "Wish" was going to flop, so this was their backup plan. This only goes higher than the other films before it due to familiarity of the property.

21. Winnie the Pooh--This was a sweet film, but I don't have much to say about it. I'm not a big fan of WTP, so it's not a film I'd rewatch a lot, but it was good when I watched it.

22. Raya and the Last Dragon--As I've said, if this film had been different, I think it could've been my favorite Disney film EVER. Unfortunately, last-minute story/cast/crew changes led to it changing significantly, and it just wasn't as good as I think it could've been. I love the idea of a SEA fantasy epic, but the worldbuilding and message of it all needed revising; Raya is offered no validation for her trauma and trust issues, and she's the one who has to move past it because her divine friend is innocent and trusting.

23. Tangled--I'm NOT a fan of this movie, but I love Gothel's songs, so that's a plus. I'm very annoyed with the selfish guy tropes that Flynn Rider exhibits, as well as the fact that why he's like this isn't shown to us; it's just a minute-long discussion. Plus he feels a lot older than Rapunzel because of his jaded attitude, and their adventure to the kingdom is kinda boring to me. A part of me feels like they were going for "Shrek," but it wasn't NEARLY as good to me. (But to fair, it sounds like Disney was micromanaging even back then, too.)

24. Zootopia 2--This film doesn't hold a candle to the original since I found their treatment of reptiles akin to aliens rather than a different race, and the predator vs prey issues seem to have fallen to the wayside rather quickly. The Lynxleys are BTS villains, making them rather lackluster, Pawbert and Gary's parallels with family aren't well-executed since we don't see Pawbert's interactions with his family before he turned out to be a twist villain, and Gary just has two settings: "we will succeed" and "I have to bring my family home." I also have issues with Judy and Nick's arcs and lack of making them compelling in contrast to their past like in the first film. That said, I do feel like attempts were made and it makes for a good watch, even if I feel like it didn't carry things as heavily as the original. Good film? Yes. Did it deserve to be the second highest-grossing animated film of all time and gross almost $2 billion? Absolutely not.

25. The Princess and the Frog--I like a lot of aspects of this film, but the reason it's low is because I'm not a big jazz fan (I do like some of the songs, though), and I'm not crazy on animal-centric movies due to the different POV they have. If Naveen and Tiana had stayed humans for most of the movie, I would've enjoyed this film a lot more. Best believe I would've watched "Tiana," Disney.

26. Frozen 2--This film is the opposite of "Moana 2"; the concept alone isn't really interesting (searching to find a mysterious voice), but the execution is better, even if it has a lot of moving parts that should be cleaned up. Again, this was a production nightmare, but I'm just glad the returning cast and crew were able to make something emotional and powerful, even if the story itself was a bit messy and Kristoff got the short end of the stick.

27. Encanto--This film was good, from it's music to it's setting; I love it when Disney explores different cultures. I think the reason I took points off is because I felt like due to having 12 family members, the story arcs for some of the family members didn't feel as fleshed out as Mirabel's own arc. Plus this story was much more domestic than typical Disney fantasy films, going for magical realism versus high fantasy.

28. Moana--This was a gorgeous film to look at, and I think the music really carried it, but the story itself was still solid enough to push it into the top 4 for me. My only qualm was that I wish we had more main characters and that Moana's "Know Who You Are" had more parallels, since she and Te Fiti went through very different feelings, as Moana never fell into a rage or almost lost herself while on the journey. Her people without wayfinding were still happy and thriving--it was just when the island started dying that they hit a problem. Plus they never dive into the selfishness of humanity that Maui mentions when he talks about being praised for his accomplishments and then demonized when he failed to get the heart for them.

29. Big Hero 6--I adore this film so much! The message and the ability to take a very unique comic series into an emotional film made me adore it, especially when processing the ugly sides of grief and accepting that you can't always get back the things and people you've lost. My only critiques are that the villain reveal happened too late to properly have parallels between him and the protagonist, as well as Fred having an unequal amount of screentime compared to the others in the friend group, and the costumes. I'm a sucker for more unique costumes than that.

30. Frozen--When I saw this film, I swore that it was the best film ever. It's really amazing with it's music and storyline; it felt like a (properly-written) modern fairy tale, albeit a bit heavy on the commentary, and we didn't need a twist villain here. I'm also not crazy about how they characterized Elsa and Anna's parents, particularly their dad, and after being part of the subreddit for a while, I've come to the conclusion that they either could've kept both parents or just killed of Iduna and made for a stronger story.

1. Zootopia--This may come as a big surprise since I'm a big fan of musical films and I'm not a fan of animal-centric films. However, since this movie has the animals in a human setting, it was a film I was open to. The racism metaphor and narrative of prejudice touched me in a way I wasn't expecting it to; I was fully planning to skip this movie. Nick Wilde is essentially what I wanted from Flynn Rider, and Judy Hopps is one of the routes I wish Disney went for Asha.

Honestly I found western animation "meh" as a whole in the 2000s, too reliant on goofy humor and not as epic or sweeping as the 90s films. It's been mentioned by creatives that this happened because animation saw how profitable comedy was at this time and thus went this route, especially since for Disney, epic musicals were getting expensive and execs were worried about being same-y and not making enough back from it.

1. Dinosaur--I was never really a dinosaur fan or a fan of animal-centric movies ("Zootopia" being the exception due to the animals being in a human-like environment and the story they told resonating with me), so it was never gonna work out for me.

2. The Emperor's New Groove--I grieve "Kingdom of the Sun" since I wanted another male-led epic musical and curious to see what Roger Allers' future with Disney would've looked like if it had been a hit. TENG is a movie I can enjoy solely because of the comedy; it's witty and sharp. But the story is rather boring and the Incan cultural aspects are used more for a backdrop.

3. Atlantis: The Lost Empire--I always wished the fantasy aspect was more prevalent rather than the emphasis on "Atlantis" as a technologically-advanced society (yeah I know that's part of their thing, but if they were gonna come up with unique ideas already, they may as well have leaned into the mythological/magic aspects). Plus I was never crazy about the art style. And the whole "less songs, more explosions" is another example of Disney seeming to hate it's musical roots and I'm very much over it.

4. Lilo & Stitch--I was never a big alien fan (well, not this kind), so it was never gonna work out for me. I enjoyed seeing Hawaiian culture, though. I was always curious why the tone would jump from silly to serious, though.

5. Treasure Planet--I don't have a real answer for this one. I just never vibed with it. Was it still the sci-fi stuff? Maybe I'll give it a rewatch.

6. Brother Bear--I despise this movie for a couple reasons. The first is that I'm not an animal movie fan and this isn't just that, but it also plays into the "POC is nonhuman for most of their film" trope, and Kenai STAYS A BEAR. The second is more personal. Disney has had a history of killing off or separating brothers while sisters remain alive and close. In this case, both brother situations happen, with one of Kenai's brothers killed and one of them he's seperated from. I probably would've enjoyed this film if Kenai was kept a human and it just focused on him and his brothers as well as exploring the indigenous culture (which the final film did when he was a human). I know this was made in response to "The Lion King," but I feel like this could've been Disney doing damage control for the controversies arisen from "Pocahontas"--though it lacked the visual style and music to do that, but maybe that could've changed, too.

7. Home on the Range--Again, animal-centric. Plus I was never a wild west fan. I'm annoyed this was Disney's take on the Pied Piper. A fairy tale like that deserved something more eerie and epic--and musical (by the characters themselves).

8. Chicken Little--I've disliked this movie since I was a kid and never understood it when people hype it up. To me, it's a Disney Channel movie with animals, relying on a lot of teen film cliches and then throwing aliens in there for good measure. I get Disney had changing priorities with wanting to focus on comedies, but they could've kept making things like TENG. I think in another world, this could've been Disney's "Turning Red" where the cringe felt deliberate and timely and the pop culture references didn't feel as forced, as well as a more wholesome and developed parent-child dynamic.

9. Meet the Robinsons--I'll admit the film gives me a feeling of warmth with it's emotional moments; it was just the retrofuturism and the overarching villain that made it feel a bit too juvenile for me, even as a juvenile. Good TV movie, okay theatrical one.

10. Bolt--Again, not a big fan of animal-centric films. I'm honestly surprised some people consider this the start of the revival era. This is also a Disney film that feels more Pixar than Disney (which would make sense since this was released 2 years after Pixar bought Disney Disney bought Pixar).

"The Princess and the Frog" is the only 2000s movie I'd save if it were dangling off a cliff, and that's mainly because of the music, animation, and being the most fairy tale of the films. It being animal-centric for a good portion of the movie gives me pause, though.

I've made my own posts about cultures I'd like to see Disney cover, be it Disney princess or not--including another Native American story, as well as stories taking place in or inspired by Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Africa, and the Mediterranean.

Where are your heads at? Assuming Disney gets their head back in the game and locks in on good storytelling, cultural representation, and (hopefully) excellent music, where would you like to see them cover?

Considering him and Jennifer Lee were the teams behind both of the first "Frozen" films, I'm surprised Disney wanted to have Trent Correy replace him--or did Chris Buck simply decline to return?

A part of me starts getting into conspiracy mode and thinking this is punishment for "Wish" flopping--Jennifer Lee's was being demoted from CCO (I never really bought the "voluntarily stepped down" thing, personally)--but that can't be true, since Lee is still part of the franchise, and Fawn Veerasuthorn, a co-writer and co-director of "Wish," is now co-directing "Hexed."

I was just curious if anyone knew.

To my understanding, the film takes place in France (evident by the Tremaine surname and the women living in a Chateau), though the film overall seems rather general in terms of setting as per usual with European fantasy stories. I'm curious how a more Danish-inspired take on the film would've looked--as well as how it would've affected "The Little Mermaid" (which had more Mediterranean influence, but a storybook a year or two ago did imagine Ariel and Eric as monarchs of Denmark) as well as "Frozen" (I think it was mostly Norwegian-influenced, but I've heard it was representative of Scandinavia as a whole) in terms of settings and cultural influence.

Make no mistake: I still maintain that jukebox musicals are lazy and inferior to making original songs, as well as being problematic from a narrative purpose because they don't pertain specifically to the situation but are instead just matching the overall vibe. BUT! "Moulin Rouge" is warming up in my heart.

A friend of mine recommended I check out the Broadway recording. We had started to watch the film before we were interrupted, and aside from being a Nicole Kidman fan, I really enjoyed HOW the jukebox musical was used. Usually when I see jukebox musicals, it's in a normal, everyday setting--or in "Once Upon a One More Time," a story mostly set in the fairy tale world. But with MR, it's a spectacle, it's modern but not modern enough to be annoyed at the characters singing radio songs that came out within the same decade. I checked out the Broadway recording, and I really enjoyed it--I mean, obviously I have to cringe at sophisticated and/or elegant characters saying things like "I want you to love me like I'm a hot ride," but the songs work well, at the very least in it's execution. I'll have to finish the movie--and then remind myself the stage musical came out almost 20 years later and I shouldn't be expecting the same songs.