Buena Vista Home Entertainment starts to get out of the unnecessary sequel business

Jim Hill

18 years ago

I got this e-mail from Jessica L. yesterday:

Jim,

I’m confused. I picked up a copy of the Platinum Edition of “The Little Mermaid” at the store today.

But when I put this disc in my DVD player, I not only saw an ad for “The Little Mermaid III” …

(Where — for some reason — Ariel becomes a mermaid again. And she & Flounder sneak into …

Copyright 2008 Disney Enterprises

… this undersea nightclub. Where they then watch Sebastian sing that old Harry Belafonte song,”Jump in the Line”)

Copyright 2006 Disney Enterprises

as well as an ad for “Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” …

(Which showed Lady Tremaine getting her hands on the Fairy Godmother’s wand.

And — after she turns Cinderella’s savior to stone — the evil stepmother then undoes the original film‘s happy ending. Turning Cinderella back into a scullery maid, making Prince Charming fall out of love with her)

Plus there was this ad for “Enchanted Tales,” which is supposedly the first disc in a brand-new series of Disney Princess DVDs. According to the preview, this DVD will feature all-new stories starring the characters from “Sleeping Beauty” and “Beauty & the Beast.”

Copyright 2006 Disney Enterprises

I thought that now that John Lasseter is in charge of Disney Feature Animation that the Walt Disney Company was going to stop making movies like this? Unnecessary sequels that the studio only produced out in order to make more money?

To be fair, Jessica … Both “”Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” & “The Little Mermaid III” are projects that actually predate Lasseter’s taking up the reins at Disney. And given that these video premieres were deliberately created in order to support the $3-billion-a-year “Disney Princess” franchise … Well, in spite of what John once said to “Fortune” magazine about how horrible it felt to have Disney producing “Toy Story III” without any input from Pixar …

“These were the people who put out ‘Cinderella II.’ (At Pixar), we believe that the only reason to do a sequel is if you have a great story, period. It’s not ‘Let’s just keep cranking it out.’ “

… There was just no way in hell that John was going to be allowed to shut these two particular projects down.

But as for “home premieres” that aren’t tied to any Disney franchises … After “Fox and the Hound 2” debuts in December …

… the Mouse House is supposedly getting out of the sequel business for a while.

Which isn’t making the folks over at Buena Vista Home Entertainment very happy. They (of all people at Disney) know how truly popular these pictures are with the public. Take — for example — “Brother Bear 2.” Which was one of the best-selling DVDs in the country for the month of September.

Millions of units of that DVD-only film were sold last month, making the Mouse a ton of money.

But because John Lasseter thinks that it’s essential that Disney get out of the unnecessary sequel business (So that the public will then begin associating the Disney name with quality storytelling once more), production of “can’t miss” projects like a sequel to the studio’s 1970 release, “The Aristocats” …

… had to be shut down.

It was the loss of this project that was a particular heartbreaker at Disney Toon Studios. Given how popular Marie (I.E. Duchess’ daughter in the original “Aristocats” film) is with guests at the Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland resorts …

Photo courtesy of Google Images

… it was felt that a DVD that was built around this particular kitty was sure to do well.

And indeed, even though Buena Vista Home Entertainment is no longer moving forward with production of “Aristocats 2″ … Well, that hasn”t stopped other arms of the Walt Disney Company from trying to cash in on this cute kitten. Take — for example — the “Disney’s Marie” book that Disney Press just released last month.

But look, it’s not like Disney Studios hasn’t ever canceled a sequel before. I mean, how many of you remember “Dumbo II”?

Which Buena Vista Home Entertainment heavily hyped as “Coming Soon !” as part of its October 2001 release of the 60th anniversary release of “Dumbo.” That project was eventually abandoned because Disney Toon Studios reportedly couldn’t find a way to replicate the characters from this 1941 film in the CG format. Which is what David Stainton, the then-head of Disney’s entire animation operation, was insisting upon.

So — for at least the forseeable future — the Mouse Factory is out of the unnecessary sequel business. But as the studio begins to scrap the bottom of the barrel (At least when it comes to the titles that Disney still has in its film vault that have yet to receive major DVD releases) and is forced to release “Special Editions” of lesser titles like 1973’s animated “Robin Hood” …

… the money that the company used to make off of home premieres like “Bambi II” and “Tarzan II” is going to start looking awfully good.

Mind you, it’s not like Buena Vista Home Entertainment is entirely getting out of the video premiere business. Next Fall, we’ll see the release of “The Tinker Bell Movie” …

Which will be the first of four new DVDs that the company is producing in order to support its new “Disney Fairies” franchise. Even the 2-disc special edition of “Peter Pan” that Disney will be releasing in March of next year …

… is deliberately being positioned so that this Platinum Edition DVD can then serve as a promotional vehicle for “Tinker Bell and the Ring of Belief.”

Anyway … To answer your question, Jessica … Yes, with the exception of these new DVD productions that will directly support the “Disney Princess” & “Disney Fairies” product lines, the Mouse is getting out of the unnecessary sequel business.

Unless — of course — Disney’s actual theatrical releases start tanking at the box office. If that starts to happen, look for those new high standards that Lasseter just set in place to quickly get abandoned.

As all those unnecessary sequels suddenly start becoming necessary again in order to boost the company’s bottom line.

Your thoughts?