Is Disney Going Downhill?

The Disney Renaissance Era: the period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Animation Studios returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films that were mostly based on well-known stories and fairytales. From The Little Mermaid to Tarzan, almost every movie in this era became an instant classic and holds a special place in our hearts. Success after success, no one could see an end coming for these films --- and then the new decade hit.

Disney’s built up reputation fell in a matter of seconds. Although movies made from 2000-2003 are experimental and aren’t necessarily bad movies, they garnered mixed reviews from critics and the public, causing people to lump them in with the other bad Disney films. For the 2000s decade as a whole, it seemed like Disney was in a very strange place; most movies in this era either flopped entirely or weren’t very memorable. However, when Disney made a small comeback in the 2010s, something had changed: the movies were good they just weren’t as good as the films of the Renaissance Era.

Yes, no other Disney animated movies can top those from the Renaissance Era. But when this new generation of films is called the “Revival Era” or even the “Second Renaissance Era” one can’t help but compare them to their predecessors. Is there really that many flaws within these films?

Spoiler warning for almost all animated Disney films made in the past decade.

Let’s start off with the widely agreed beginning of the Revival Era. The Princess and the Frog tells the story of Tiana, a hardworking and ambitious woman who dreams of one day opening the finest restaurant in New Orleans. Her dream takes a slight detour when she meets Prince Naveen, who has been turned into a frog by the evil Dr. Facilier. Mistaking her for a princess and hoping to break the spell, Naveen kisses Tiana, which turns her into a frog as well. The rest of the film, the pair hop along on an adventure through the bayous to seek the help of a powerful voodoo priestess.

With no major flaws animation wise, some critics found the story to be flat while many seem to be enamored by the movie as a whole. These critics found the overall story to be rather boring and bland and believed once the story got rolling, it never stopped to develop the storyline further, making for a very simple film. Compared to the other films featured later on, this film has one of the least amounts of criticism despite having the lowest score.

A year later, Disney released Tangled, which garnered high praise and reviews. There aren’t any major problems that stand out except for the use of the “damsels in distress who ends the movie by landing a man” cliche. Yet, Disney announced themselves that Tangled would be the last film of theirs to feature this trope.

The release of Wreck-It Ralph started a trend over at Walt Disney Animation Studios: the use of plot-twist villains. The trope itself isn’t bad when done right, but after Wreck-It Ralph, it seems as if these were the only villains allowed to exist in animated Disney films.

Let’s take Frozen and Zootopia as examples. Although all of these movies are good, their villains are something that are hard to ignore. Frozen’s Hans is a plot twist villain revealed in the last 15 minutes of the movie that sort of works; his motivation of wanting to marry Anna so he could rule due to him having 12 older brothers and no chance to rule makes some sense. Yet, Hans’ villainy feels thrown in at the last minute. Why? Because it doesn’t follow the rules of how to write a good plot twist.

While plot twists, by definition, are sudden, unexpected and even shocking changes of direction, they must still be realistic and sensible. No matter how unpredictable it might be, a plot twist that's outlandish or doesn't make sense is not effective. This is why Hans and most recent Disney villains don’t work: there was absolutely no build up or hints that it could be them.

Continuing with the other plot twist villains, Zootopia’s Assistant Mayor Bellwether is a pretty forgettable villain (I actually had to search her name up). Instead of being introduced as a villain within the last 15 minutes, she gets introduced during the last ten. Her motivations make sense since they were explained in a simple way by Judy and I get what Disney was trying to go for with her character being a metaphor for “don’t judge a book by its cover," but she isn’t threatening in the slightest. Like Hans, Bellwether doesn’t have any hints indicating she was the villain, making the villain in this movie weak.

Another Disney downside are the sequels Disney is making. Released in 2018, Ralph Breaks the Internet was anticipated by audiences from around the world. Sadly, what we got was disappointing to say the least. Without going too deep into it, the movie’s 1st and 2nd acts feel really random and Ralph acts like a total idiot most of the time. In the 3rd act, however, the movie actually starts being a real movie; there’s touching moments and a villain that is actually really brilliant. Yet, this shouldn’t excuse the bland and uninspired writing the rest of the movie has.

Also, without going off on a long tangent, Frozen 2 was also a painfully average movie. With a mostly forgettable soundtrack, a messy and vague plot, bad pacing, and characters that were cast aside, I don’t believe it was a good film. Sure there were good parts like Kristoff’s musical number and the gorgeous animation, but overall the movie is a sequel and that’s it; there’s nothing more to it.

It seems like Disney just… isn’t the same. In the past few years, there has been more Disney sequels (including Pixar) than actual original content. Disney feels like they’re simply recycling old classics, creating sequels or the next installment of a franchise, or taking their material from pre-existing sources. Even though their recent practices can be seen as uninspired or even downright lazy, it’s what sells.

In the end, a couple nitpicks about how the plot of movies are or even practices of Disney as a whole shouldn’t directly affect how one thinks about them. Disney is a business aimed towards children; their stories aren’t aimed at adults. Criticism of a movie shouldn’t deter your opinion of a film. Movies are more than the sum of their parts. It doesn’t matter if a villain doesn’t work, there’s still plenty of powerful and impactful moments you can enjoy. So, next time you see a Disney film, enjoy whatever you want to enjoy.