The 3 Most Embarrassing Disney Sequels

A superior sequel is the exception, not the norm, in Hollywood; and Disney sequels usually fall somewhere between brilliant and embarrassing. Let’s get into it.

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.”