Over the years, Disney has released a number of films based on short stories, novels, and fairy tales, and most of them have justifiably become quite revered. Some, however, haven’t fared quite as well, with the following five standing as the most misbegotten adaptations in Disney’s body of work:
Though Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland has become one of the best known versions of Lewis Carroll’s beloved novel, the iconic book had actually been adapted several times prior to 1951 – with the first such adaptation hitting screens in 1903 in the form of an eight-minute short. The massive success of Cinderella’s release in 1950 meant that expectations were extremely high for Alice in Wonderland, with Walt Disney’s close participation in the movie’s production only fueling the movie’s pre-release buzz. And although the animation certainly lives up to Disney’s flawless standards, Alice in Wonderland suffers from a surreal, episodic feel that rarely captures the magic of Carroll’s 1865 children’s book.
In 1938, British author T.H. White wrote a novel called The Sword in the Stone – which detailed King Arthur’s childhood and his early friendship with the powerful wizard Merlin. It’s the kind of subject matter that seems ideally suited to the animation genre, and Disney was coming off a run of such hits as 1959’s Sleeping Beauty and 1961’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Unfortunately, The Sword in the Stone moves at a near glacial pace that proves disastrous – with the slow-moving atmosphere compounded by an emphasis on kid-oriented and overly silly sequences (including a lengthy, utterly pointless scene in which Merlin and Arthur frolic through the forest disguised as squirrels).
The Black Cauldron has amassed quite a reputation over the years, as it’s become known as the film that almost single-handedly destroyed Disney’s animation studio. The movie, which is based on Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain book series, follows an unlikely trio as they set out to stop a vicious villain from creating an army of undead warriors, with the adventure-oriented storyline clearly designed to capitalize on the success of the Indiana Jones series. But there’s really nothing within The Black Cauldron that works; the characters are one-dimensional, the plot is convoluted and complicated, and there’s an ongoing emphasis on scary elements that will most likely give younger viewers nightmares.
Based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, Oliver and Company follows abandoned kitten Oliver (Joey Lawrence) as he befriends a street-smart mutt named Dodger (Billy Joel) – with the movie detailing Oliver’s ongoing efforts at blending in with Dodger’s gang of dogs. Though Oliver and Company has long-since been dismissed as a forgettable effort from Disney (and rightly so), the film is important to the studio’s history because it was released a year before 1989’s The Little Mermaid. (The Little Mermaid, of course, triggered Disney’s second Golden Age of animation, which includes contemporary masterpieces like 1991’s Beauty and the Beast and 1994’s The Lion King.)
Chicken Little, which is loosely based on an ancient fable entitled Henny Penny, details the exploits of the title character, as he becomes convinced that aliens are attacking his small town. It’s a familiar story that is unfortunately employed to middling effect by Disney’s animators, with the overwhelming emphasis on larger-than-life action scenes wearing the viewer down and ensuring that the movie will only appeal to small children. Chicken Little’s failure was especially disappointing back in 2005, as the film marked Disney’s first stab at a computer-animated release. (The studio has certainly improved in the years since, however, as they’ve emerged with strong efforts like 2008’s Bolt and 2010’s Tangled.)More »
1. 'Alice in Wonderland' (1951)
Though Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland has become one of the best known versions of Lewis Carroll’s beloved novel, the iconic book had actually been adapted several times prior to 1951 – with the first such adaptation hitting screens in 1903 in the form of an eight-minute short. The massive success of Cinderella’s release in 1950 meant that expectations were extremely high for Alice in Wonderland, with Walt Disney’s close participation in the movie’s production only fueling the movie’s pre-release buzz. And although the animation certainly lives up to Disney’s flawless standards, Alice in Wonderland suffers from a surreal, episodic feel that rarely captures the magic of Carroll’s 1865 children’s book.
2. 'The Sword in the Stone' (1963)
In 1938, British author T.H. White wrote a novel called The Sword in the Stone – which detailed King Arthur’s childhood and his early friendship with the powerful wizard Merlin. It’s the kind of subject matter that seems ideally suited to the animation genre, and Disney was coming off a run of such hits as 1959’s Sleeping Beauty and 1961’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Unfortunately, The Sword in the Stone moves at a near glacial pace that proves disastrous – with the slow-moving atmosphere compounded by an emphasis on kid-oriented and overly silly sequences (including a lengthy, utterly pointless scene in which Merlin and Arthur frolic through the forest disguised as squirrels).
3. 'The Black Cauldron' (1985)
The Black Cauldron has amassed quite a reputation over the years, as it’s become known as the film that almost single-handedly destroyed Disney’s animation studio. The movie, which is based on Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain book series, follows an unlikely trio as they set out to stop a vicious villain from creating an army of undead warriors, with the adventure-oriented storyline clearly designed to capitalize on the success of the Indiana Jones series. But there’s really nothing within The Black Cauldron that works; the characters are one-dimensional, the plot is convoluted and complicated, and there’s an ongoing emphasis on scary elements that will most likely give younger viewers nightmares.
4. 'Oliver & Company' (1988)
Based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, Oliver and Company follows abandoned kitten Oliver (Joey Lawrence) as he befriends a street-smart mutt named Dodger (Billy Joel) – with the movie detailing Oliver’s ongoing efforts at blending in with Dodger’s gang of dogs. Though Oliver and Company has long-since been dismissed as a forgettable effort from Disney (and rightly so), the film is important to the studio’s history because it was released a year before 1989’s The Little Mermaid. (The Little Mermaid, of course, triggered Disney’s second Golden Age of animation, which includes contemporary masterpieces like 1991’s Beauty and the Beast and 1994’s The Lion King.)
5. 'Chicken Little' (2005)
Chicken Little, which is loosely based on an ancient fable entitled Henny Penny, details the exploits of the title character, as he becomes convinced that aliens are attacking his small town. It’s a familiar story that is unfortunately employed to middling effect by Disney’s animators, with the overwhelming emphasis on larger-than-life action scenes wearing the viewer down and ensuring that the movie will only appeal to small children. Chicken Little’s failure was especially disappointing back in 2005, as the film marked Disney’s first stab at a computer-animated release. (The studio has certainly improved in the years since, however, as they’ve emerged with strong efforts like 2008’s Bolt and 2010’s Tangled.)More »
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