Disney To Drop 'Little Mermaid,' 'Lion King,' and More

Comments for Disney To Drop ‘Little Mermaid,’ ‘Lion King,’ and More

A grayscale image captures three iconic Disney Renaissance characters side by side: Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" with a worried expression, Simba from "The Lion King" looking surprised, and the Genie from "Aladdin" appearing sad.

Credit: Inside the Magic

72 Comments

  1. Colin H

    Hard to tell but it’s almost as if Disney is beyond repair after the mentioned box disasters. These past couple years, we’ve been getting content no one asked for. Going back to what worked could bring back audiences. I don’t want to be represented, I want a good story again.

    1. Bryan

      Exactly

    2. Sara Smith

      Lion King is coming back to theaters next week. Maybe when Disney sees how popular it is again, they’ll see the error of their ways.

  2. I beg to differ about Wish, for I think that it suffering from phase 1. Thus I seek the finest and worthy in the social media to join and give the film a second chance with its animation, story and length. Will those join me?

    1. Todd Hudson

      No I watched it with my family. It’s ok but it’s not that good. They should have stuck with the original concept of it. It sounded alot more interesting

    2. Matt W.

      I have seen and like Disney’s Wish. I also like Strange World.

    3. DIANE PEREZ

      I will I am a musketeer, by heart you can count me in.

    4. Tina Gail Claxton

      Dropping Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid is Disney asking for eternal damnation.

      1. MiChelle

        AGREED!!

  3. Emily

    Dropping the Little Mermaid that is my favorite Disney princess

  4. Emily

    Why the Little Mermaid

  5. A Wolf

    The Disney Renaissance was about 4+ consecutive animated films delivering memorable, high quality stories, songs, and animation where Disney had struggled and nearly bankrupt itself prior.

    I love that Inside Out 2 is breaking records. Disney Pixar did exactly what so many people had requested over the past 5-7 years and it is a massive success showing that their fans were not wrong.

    That said, it will take another 2-3 movies before I start getting my hopes up that Disney is on its way to a Renaissance.

    They hadn’t ruined their name much prior to the 90s. It’s just that their animated films were not delivering. Not that they were forcefully delivering political messages onto people causing them to be completely adverse to their name.

    It will take years of films like this before Disney is back in favor of the general public. It is nice to be hopeful… Or, optimistic like Joy. But a sequel carried by the strength of the original done right is not a Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Aladdin, etc.

    1. Natalie

      Totally agree! I used to love Disney, and Star Wars and Marvel. Disney destroyed them all. It will take more than one good Pixar movie to fix this. Maybe they will find the magic again. Remember it’s at the end of the rainbow not on it.

    2. Lea

      Exactly. They were too worried about pandering rather than making the live versions exactly like the originals and that’s how they lost customers. Even my half black niece refused to go see the live little mermaid claiming that’s not the Ariel she grew up with.

      1. Marie

        I’ve heard that same sentiment from some other people, about their kids/grandkids.

        Disney thought they were so smart with how they handled the live action, that they seemed to have broken a lot of little girl’s hearts.

    3. Karen stout

      I feel why should Disney drop any of the classics. When to this day every child loves the classic Disney movies. I don’t see how dropping these classics are gonna do Disney any good. If they drop them they may be dropping everything that WALT DISNEY himself believed that every child should be able to see these classics. If they drop these classics what is the point in Disney world and Disney land. Kids love these places because of what DISNEY MEANS TO ALOT OF PEOPLE.

  6. Jim wyllie

    First wish was a great movie, and the main reason it flopped is greviously overlooked constantly. It’s that 5 days prior to it’s release, Trolls 3 came out basically causing the 2 films to kill each other’s box office numbers and adding insult to injury Wonka and migration arrived a month later over saturating the family film category at the box office. 2nd, elemental was successful but suffered from being released less than a month after spider man took the box office by storm. Last year disney primarily suffered from studios not being able to plan release schedules. Otherwise I believe they would have done alot better, this year is proof via a less crowded release slate overall. Disney is going into another successful stretch, in all likelihood but only time will tell if it’s another Renaissance.

    1. Todd Hudson

      Wish wad terrible. The songs were garbage the voice acting was just ok. The characters were not memorable.

    2. Tiffany

      I love the little mermaid. I love all the Disney movies I still have them all on VHS I still watch them.

      1. DIANE PEREZ

        I will I am a musketeer, by heart you can count me in.i need a good vhs to watch my movies. Recently I have been buying them. I get the one that is digital and regular DVD. I love it! How about you all

    3. Shane wroe

      I disagree. Wish was blatantly woke and Noone wants woke!! That’s why I hate movies like this and I saw previews…I hate the idea of a woke movie. #dowwithwoke

    4. Marie

      No….Disney is done if they keep going this way. And wish wasn’t that good. Thought it would be cute. But nope….

  7. SteelWolf

    Not necessarily a Renaissance era..but Id like to see that! This is more a new era with Renaissance being brought back! Plus how’s Disney dropping the lion king? They just re-released the 1994 original in theaters again for the 30th anniversary…that don’t sound like they are dropping it! Now id personally love to see Robin hood get a re-release as that movie really sets the tone of Renaissance…it’s one of the movies made after walts death and suffered immensely at the box office upon first release in 1971…then it got released again in 1973 to an outstanding box office hit! Yet it remains a drastically underrated movie!

  8. Jacob Allen

    Don’t drop your classic movies or your new movies. I can see both mixing in together as always.

  9. Victoria

    Actually, Who Framed Roger Rabbit started the Renaissance.

    1. Deborah

      Such a fun movie…

    2. Nemo

      Brilliant film, live the mixture between toontown and the real world.

      I personally believe Disney is struggling not just because of its release dates clashing, but also because there’s no Disney stores to visit anymore – who still has a Disney store with all its best characters in. They’ve taken away the hands on experience of watching a film and being able to walk straight into the store and buying the characters in plush or toy, cup, clothing forms. Online shopping is no way near as memorable for a child than walking into one the Disney or Waner Brothers stores and being blown away buy how much is available. I think this is a MASSIVE contribution to Disney’s struggle to remain on top of its glory days.

  10. Dropping The Little Mermaid Beauty and the Beast etc you’ve done it again why not Cinderella. too nobody could have a better idea kids enjoy movies with gay lesbian content anyway you guys have lost your minds

    1. Matt W.

      A homosexual kid might like a movie with homosexual characters.

      1. Jamiee

        If they drop The Little Mermaid it should be the new unnecessary remake that nobody asked for or wanted. Melissa McCarthy as Ursula was enough to make you ill. I’m sure Pat Carroll was rolling over in her grave as Melissa McCarthy destroyed her songs with her screeching voice. I heard so many kids say That’s Not the REAL Little Mermaid – not simply because she’s a black mermaid – but because they changed the story. In the 1989 version Triton was not Ursula’s brother. Ariel’s friend Scuttle is a male bird named Scuttlebutt, Scuttle is his nickname. The new one they made the bird a girl and kept the name. The big thing many of the little girls were upset by is Ariel’s bright fire engine red hair was gone. It’s a cotton candy pink. Anytime someone says they don’t like this new Mermaid people turn it into a racial issue. Blaming me or my kids for not liking the movie because the Little Mermaid is black not white. The overall point is they released a movie that didn’t need to be redone. We will always watch the original 1989 movie because it’s better.

      2. Kris

        I was a kid, who happened to be in the community. I didn’t want or need direct representation. What happened to thinking about the characteristics of the character and identifying with them based on that? We would’ve never gotten The Lion King because people “wouldn’t” have identified with a lion. The target audience doesn’t know what it feels like to be a lion in Africa. Seriously if someone need a character to be similar to them “to represent them”, then they have no imagination or ability to interpret stories.

      3. Kevin Henderson

        I think what hurt Disney srudios the most was going woke I am sick and tired of that garbage being pumped into our lives. That is one reason that I canceled my subscription to Disney+

    2. Lea

      I beg to differ disney got lost in the woke wave and started to pander to a small fraction of people and now their bank accounts are showing it. I’m part of the LGB community and I think they went too far. And to add to it instead of coming up with new stories they just slapped a POC onto and expected it to be enough.

  11. Mike snyil

    It’s all depends. If the woke mob is still calling shots at Disney they will continue their descent, this article recognizes that..

    1. Michael

      The Acolyte anyone?

      1. Lea

        Exactly

  12. Jackson

    So how are tbey dropping those movies?

    1. Jade VR

      That was exactly what I was thinking. The writer’s title for the story made it sound like Disney is going to get rid of the movies. That isn’t what I took from the article.
      Not sure of what their definition of “dropping” here was intended to be.

  13. Anthony

    Disney has lost my trust and I will never as support them with my money again, no matter what they come out with.

  14. Matt W.

    Personally I like many, if not all, of Disney’s animated movies. Just because a movies flipped in theaters does not mean it won’t become popular later. The Black Couldran originally flopped but has since gained a cult following. From what I understand Dumbo and Bambi didn’t do well when they were first released back in the early 40s.
    The older generations like Gen x seem to hate the newer movies but what about the newer generations like Gen z? They might turn the newer flops that older Disney fans hate and turn them into classics.
    From what I understand, Gen Z have been finding this wrong with the older movies like the ones from the Renaissance which the older generations like.
    I guess I only time will tell.

  15. Matthew

    I say keep these classic films safe, we need them

    1. Lea

      Exactly

  16. Brenda

    One film does not make a Renaissance. I love that it is doing so well, but give me 3-4 movies before we say their bouncing back.
    Frozen and Moana were great films, but it stopped there. It didn’t continue beyond.
    They need to get rid of their live action remakes. They currently change too much important stuff in the original story now to be PC.

  17. Jill

    Please bring back the classics, bring back family movie night to the general audience, give families a chance to see all Disney movies, inspire families to watch them together.

  18. Sam

    I actually loved Strange World, I loved the family being supportive and loving to one another and the adventure was pretty visually stunning. Wish was okay, not great but not bad. Lightyear wasn’t bad either, it had fun characters. I think it just wasn’t what people were expecting.

    1. Paul W

      Yep, I’m quite positive that had Tim Allen returned to voice Buzz, the film would have been a smash. I was surprised, after the Return of Jafar fiasco, that Disney didn’t learn how important keeping original voice actors is, where possible, especially for a focus character. I know Inside Out 2 was able to get away with 2 emotion voice replacements, but I’m guessing the film would have had much lower numbers if Amy Poehler had not returned as Joy.

  19. Angela

    Disney is not Disney anymore
    Except by name only. Since then it is not about quality or
    Family values. But profit
    And trying to reboot all
    Of the beloved films and characters. We grew up with in the past. Which is sad to see. It has become a monopoly. With all these franchises and reboots.
    That some of us are bored with. All in the name of $

  20. Shaye

    Disney is just really shooting themselves in the foot with all of this. It’s not even Disney Plus anymore it’s more like just Plus.

  21. RB

    I personally grew up during the classic Disney movies such as, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and so on. I remember going to the movies with my Mama 😄 I think that the movie’s that they should be getting rid of is the live action! They messed up The Little Mermaid in how they portrayed the main character! And having some one whom was unable to sing as Ursala! The animals were a poor excuse for who and what they were supposed to portray! If the system is not broken why fix it? Let the next generation experience Disney movies the way we did as children!

    1. Michael

      Why do we need all of these sequels? I think what people are hungry for is good, original content. Wholesome family values. There are literally thousands of classic fairy tales from hundreds of cultures in the world. Have a little courage and foresight. Pick a quality story and make it into a film that a mother would want to take her children to.
      Go woke, go broke.

      1. Bored

        Go woke go broke? Literally shut up.

        1. Lea

          He’s not wrong. Go woke go broke

          1. Mike

            You guys are broken records. Disney’s not going anywhere. Cry harder about gay and black people being in your movies.

          2. Steve

            Disney is going somewhere and I mean getting broken up under antitrust by Uncle Sam and losing every acqusition and after my takeover, Disney is going back to the 20th century where it belongs and every decision will be made by asking “What would Walt do?” again. Disney under me will cater only to 20th century audiences and will be made great again.

  22. Bored

    Yea go back to giving us the same movie over and over with the same premise over and over. That’ll go well too.

    The “woke” argument is old at this point. Tell us you’re a republican without telling us you’re a republican.

  23. Dave

    I remember some of my best high school dates were us seeing the new Disney movie

  24. Go woke, go broke sums it up nicely. I stopped seeing ,Disney stuff. The only films I buy are from CEX so they don’t get any money from me and those are the great classics from before Disney became revolting.

    1. Lea

      What is CEX

  25. I really hope that this doesn’t happen for me as a parent I love to watch classic cartoons I grew up watching with my children i can remember the memories and also make new ones with my children I love seeing the expression s on their faces I can see the emotions the magic and feel them too cause I can remember how they made me feel as a child all the classics need to stay point blank period

  26. August

    “Family friendly morals and values”??? You mean, not having gay people? You mean,
    TRADITIONAL family values? 2/3 of the “flops” had gay characters, and with strange world disney barely advertised it BECAUSE it has a gay character. It’s because disney is afraid to piss off conservatives and because of conservatives themselves that the films flopped. But that doesn’t mean stop the representation.

    1. Lea

      Wrong I’m LGB and I think disney took this shit too far. I don’t want to be represented in CHILDRENS movies I’m not perverted like that. This ridiculous need for adults who are LGB to entice and influence CHILDREN is ridiculous and pedophile behavior. Anyone who supports things thar influence kids sexually needs to have their electronics checked.

      1. Spank You Very Much

        You’re not fooling anyone. Nobody who claims to be part of that “fabulous spectrum” of lifestyles would ever call it LGB. You can’t even get the terminology right.

    2. Tammy

      I think that Disney needs to get back to family traditions and good morals. My kids and I hardly watch Disney. You’ve been producing a lot of filth get out of LGBT and stop trying to ram it down our kid’s throats. Let them be kids and keep producing kid-friendly movies and shows. I like all the movies that it says you will do away with. It’s going to more than one movie to fix the situation.

  27. Bryan

    Disney is not in a rebound period yet. One movie does not fix the litany of terrible ones, from the collapse of Marvel to the obismal SW series and movies (and then there was the Acolyte). It’s going to take more than one success to right this ship, quite a few on the SW side (Kennedy has to go.)

  28. Rickie

    I think Disney would benefit if their kids movies reflected the kid elements we see on Disney Jr. seriously just keep it simple. I promise you it will bring in millions. Look at the Mario Movie and the Garfield Movie and Paw Patrol. No agendas just a simple story with cool graphics and music.

  29. Sara Smith

    😠 I think it’s extremely STUPID for Disney Studios to get rid of the original Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion 🦁 King 👑. ALL 4 of those movies were big hits and to THIS DAY people STILL remember them ! The Lion King is about to return to theaters for it’s 30th anniversary and once Disney Studios sees what a big hit it’ll be AGAIN, they’ll change their mind on removing it and the other 3 classic movies.
    I agree though that Strange World and Wish were DEFINITELY flops and Disney Studios needs to LEARN from their mistakes with them. What they SHOULD/NEED to do is POLL the public and ask them what THEY would like to see come from Disney Studios. Like maybe another live princess 👑 movie, but one where it’s EXACTLY LIKE the animated version.

  30. Morphed

    I love how you guys keep talking about fairy tales as if the Disney versions are the real thing. People’s need to seriously take a gander at Grimm’s fairy tale sometime, those are the real fairy tales. As for Disney, I don’t know if they can come back from how many things they’ve ruined. As pointed out above, it will take way more than one movie to come back from the crap that they’ve produced.

  31. Penny

    They get rid of the classics, I’m done. Disney has gotten way too out of hand. I liked most of the movies they are saying were “flops”. Just because it didn’t rack in millions doesn’t mean it was a “flop”. It still entertains the main audiences which are the kids. They don’t care about money, they just to see a colorful movie. Do better!

  32. Not going to silence me

    What Disney should do is get rid of all their garbage content, that includes the stuff from Marvel and Star Wars that Floped, stop with letting politics dictate everything and keep the good stuff. I will cancle my Disney plus subscription if they remove classic movies I’m done giving them my money to do woke bs that flops.

  33. Buzz

    After back to back flops, this new movie has brought a second Renaissance??? I’m sure when they release snow white it will be right back to flop era!

  34. Kristen

    I understand that times have changed as well movie “technology”… but to remove the “old”, “vintage” Disney is just wrong.. looking at it now yes there maybe some “adult humor” or “adult content” but ..if you where a parent during that time and watched it with your children.. I mean movies do that.. but the big thing is you are taking peoples childhood away.. and that I think is unfair.. those movies to me will always to the best Disney because I grew up with it now you tell me they’re not good is a little hurtful.. considering as a kid u don’t think of all the BS that adults think when they watch it.. and I think it would be a bad idea to just drop all those CLASSIC Disney movies.. like they had NO memories or that “OUR” youth and upbringing in disney.. wat just didn’t exist. You will be leaving behind a whole generation.. it’s good to grow.. but to exclude and deny is something totally different!! Hurtful in fact. I’m a 90’s Disney kid some new stuff I’m like wtf.. and others I LOVE.. but I’ll never forget dumbo.. fox and hound.. Robin hood.. Aladdin.. sooo many more is really just a punch to the gut to my childhood.. don’t get rid of the “vintage” people deserve to see where Disney came from to where they are now. I can’t be the only one to feel this way.. leave this shit alone… please.

  35. Gary

    Wrong move, keep them they are part of Disney history !!

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